Good Lord!  After returning from school shopping with my fifth grader, I have decided that next year, I am doing it different.  I can't belive that I spent nearly $70 on just suggested school supplies!  Of course, that "suggested" list of supplies just HAD to be bought, and of course, I did.  Not next year, though.  I kept thinking, is it really necessary for a fifth grader to need and use crayons?  Really?  Try this one on....crayons, markers, AND colored pencils.  Sheesh.  Glue sticks, erasers, a half-ton box of pencils, paper, a 2" three-ring binder....but it had to be the one with the clear plastic pouch in the front.  Sheet protectors and dictionaries and hand sanitizer....you ladies know how the rest goes. 

After licking my wallet wound and whining a bit, I started to try to figure out just why this stuff is so expensive every year.  With the economy suffering, one would think that prices would decrease each year, not the opposite.  Where are the schools at on this stuff?  Why does my child need so much stuff?  Am I buying this stuff just for him or for the class as a whole?  Is this list of stuff to help compensate for what school budgets do not?  I certainly do not believe that teachers need to front the supplies, especially since their income isn't what they deserve.  Nevertheless, I am still shocked that something that used to cost no more than $25 is now nearly three times that amount! 

Next year, no matter what the "suggested" list suggests, I am going to bargain shop.  Instead of expensive three-ring binders, how about those accordian folders with five to ten compartments that only cost a buck at Target?  Buy as many of the supplies on sale through the year so I am not suckered into the high prices out of necessity.  Oh, and the crayons/markers/colored pencils?  Hopefully my son won't need ALL of those next year when he graduates to middle school, but if the list "suggests" it, then I will let him pick one.  We will, one way or another, get our school supplies back to $25!!!

Now, off to open house to find out how much else I have to spend!  Good Lord!