While you want to have a shopping schedule so you are sure to have everything you need on time, you can begin picking up supplies & other items throughout the summer. By purchasing necessities all summer long, you save yourself a huge one-time shopping bill!

BTS shopping can be an ordeal when you do it alone. Add a couple of kids that hate trying on clothes, want to choose the shoes, backpack, whatever that they want no matter how unsuitable or expensive plus they just don’t want to be there & you have the formula for disaster. How many of these excursions have ended in shouting matches or tears, either them or YOU?

It’s easy to overspend during BTS. Ever if you only buy the essentials, those items can run into a lot of money. You must sit down with your list & create a budget. Knowing ahead of time what BTS is going to cost prevents surprises.

Now that you have cleaned things out & organized what you keep, you should inventory what you have. Then you are ready to make a list of the items needed for the new school year.

Have you ever prepared for back to school after a long summer, dug a backpack out from under a bed, only to find a 2 month old sandwich rotting on the bottom of the backpack? Do you spend the week or two before school starts trying to determine what clothes still fit, what shoes still have life left in them, what school supplies are hiding around your home? Have you ever spent a fortune on supplies only to find you still have items you can use at home? Not this year!

BTS prep includes so much information, so many lists. Keep everything together in a master notebook. Create a tab for each of your kids & a general tab with budget, shopping lists, calendar & more.