Tuesday Tip: Shopping Lists

You are never going to believe it.  This Tuesday Tip I came up with all on my own!

It's a novel idea called, "Making a Shopping List."

You're impressed, aren't you? :)

But, hear me out.  Before I got married, I may have spent money on Kindergarten with reckless abandon.  But after I got married, a little somebody would occasionally take objection to all that Kinder-cash flying out of our savings account.

So, I decided to ask for help from my classroom parents, who usually are happy to help.  Throughout the year, I keep track of items that I'm purchasing that could just as easily be purchased by a parent - gum for the green gum/grape gum taste test, Cool-whip for pumpkin pie in a bag, beads for the Native American necklaces, etc.  It all gets saved in a word document that looks like this.

At my beginning of the year parent meeting, I put out the lists, one for each month, and invite them to sign up to help purchase a few things.  Then, when the month rolls around, I put a reminder of who's bringing what in a newsletter, plus what didn't get signed up for.  The parents send in the items by the first Friday and I have what I need for the month.

Yes, you still end up purchasing some odds and ends.  And yes, you have to be organized, but it's easy to just add to the list as you go throughout the year. But it also means my honey has a little extra money in his pocket to take me out to dinner.  Yes!

Enjoy saving,
Amanda