Spending less than $20 for Kindergarten!!!

Another year, another fresh start. At school that is. 

If you're like me, you've recently gone shopping for your little one's big first day of school. Regardless of what grade they are entering, you always try to find good deals on all the necessities they need. Well for my son's first year of school - Kindergarten - we've made the decision to do a homeschooling program. Now this program is a public school and does offer short classes 2 times a week. He also has the opportunity to participate in sports through the school and attend field trips (which I will be accompanying him) with other homeschoolers from the school. We are opting out of classes for Fall, but we will revisit the situation for Spring. As of now though, he's still going to need supplies for when goes on field trips, to document what he's learned for the day, and to prove how smart he's getting. 

With a budget given to us for his school supplies, we headed to Target and I can't even begin to tell you all how much we saved! I know that most kids are in school already - at least where we are at - but for him, he doesn't officially start until after Labor Day. The reason this is awesome for us, is because since most schools have already started, Target is having MASSIVE clearance on their school supplies! 

With a small list in hand, we spent only $17! Can you believe it?! I spent less than $20 at Target for school supplies and more!!! I was so proud of all the coolness we found for so incredibly cheap! I decided to share with you all the awesome finds we found and what we are including in his backpack for his adventure in Kindergarten!

The first thing we found was a Minion pencil case which was marked down to $2.08! It was the perfect size to hold all his writing/coloring utensils and was way sturdier than the flimsy binder inserts. Also, he doesn't have a binder, so this was perfect. The Minion pencils were our next find and only cost us $0.75! He only wanted to include 1 Minion pencil, because he wanted to use his special Spongebob pencil and Darth Vader pencil as well (he won them over the summer). The Crayola crayons were only $0.50! 

The next thing on our list was glue sticks, so he could paste his drawings into a journal for his adventures. These were on sale for only $0.25 for a pack of 2 and the erasers were a pack of two for $0.17!!! The sharpener was marked down to $0.16 as well! I was so freaking stoked, because all his writing/drawing utensils - case included - cost under $4!!!!

After finding all of the writing utensils, we needed the things to write on. He found a Minion binder - on sale for only $0.15 - to keep all his papers/fliers neat and tidy. We are also responsible for showing examples of what he learns, so this folder will be able to keep those things tidy as well! Then we found "Primary Composition" notebooks - something I didn't know they made - on clearance for only $2.08 each! One will be used for him to practice his writing and one will be used as his journal. They are perfect, because they are printed with the "practice writing" lines - the lines that are wide with a dotted line in the center - which will help him tremendously. The drawing paper was $1.99 and will be perfect for him to draw pictures and then glue them into his journal, where he can write a few sentences about what he's learned for the day. All of this came out to a total of $6.30!

The next items are particularly for field trips - and we have a few to attend - all which can be found in the travel section. They weren't on sale, but they were still relatively cheap! The baby wipes - for his messy face and hands - were $0.99, the Band-Aid's - for his scraps - were $1.00, the Eucerin travel sized lotion - for his eczema - was $1.00, the facial tissues - which came in a pack of 4 - were $1.50, and the Carmex - for his dry lips - was $1.00. Everything here came out to be $5.49!

The last item was an item I found at checkout and decided he should DEFINITELY have on hand. He's not a fan of dirty hands, so if a bathroom isn't near by, he now has his very own hand sanitizer - $1.00. Of course since I'll be going with him on his field trips, I could have all of the "travel" items on hand in my purse, but he's told me he wants to have his own. He's extremely independent and seeing as how he will be with the kids - the parents just monitor and chaperon - he will now have the opportunity to do things on his own with his own stuff. It kills me how adorable he's growing, but it's also killing me that he's growing up so fast! 

After we had all his stuff purchased and got home, we packed his backpack - a gift from his birthday - I realized that this is it. He's going to be starting his journey as a Kindergarten in roughly 2 weeks! I can't believe how quickly my little one is growing. I can only imagine how many parents around the world are feeling the same way and mine isn't even going to a full day of class this Fall! Like I said before, he may decide to go to classes this Spring, but it would only be 2 days a week for a maximum of 2 hours each day. 

Also, he DOES have a lunchbox and water bottle, but those were purchased a while ago. I always pack a lunchbox when we go out, because he's a "snacker". The water bottle was from Target's Dollar section and was purchased for $1 a while ago. I even got myself one, because I'm not spending $15 for an "adult" water bottle!!!

Before we start getting questions and comments about why we decided to homeschool, I will just say this, we feel it's the best decision for my little padawan. Long story short, my son will have the opportunity to learn through experience without having to sit down in a classroom all day. He will still get the social aspect and will be able to advance at his own speed. It will give him the opportunity to learn how he feels most comfortable and get an individualized learning experience. 

And there you have it guys! Moral of the story, wait until the last minute to buy school supplies, because everything goes on major clearance! I know this isn't always easy though - especially with multiple kids, clothes shopping, and just wanting to be done - but if you can, try it! You can also try to get absolute necessities first and go back for clearance later! I'm a huge saver, so even though I HATE waiting until the end to complete tasks, it was SO worth it to see how little I spent!!!

Here's to another year of learning without any hitches!!!