My favorite time of year is Back to School when the stores bring out all their discounted school supplies. I always stock up on extra folders, crayons, glue, and other supplies. It doesn't matter how many things are on your school's supply list, it is never enough. My least favorite time is tax season when I have to give my husband (who prepares our taxes) the receipts for all my purchases for my classroom. I have a tendency to just shop and not keep track of how much I've spent. It's always a little shocking to see how much personal money I've spent in a year.
I did find that how I organized my students' school supplies affected how much money I spent on supplies. I found I spent less money when I used the community supplies method instead of students keeping their own supplies. You will want to check with your administrator to see if this is allowed at your school before you try this. Occasionally, I had a parent who objected to this. I let those students use their own supplies and then I asked the parent to send in supplies throughout the year when needed. Some parents sent in supplies and others eventually said to change their child to the community supplies method.
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