How Can I Shop Smart for School Supplies: Essentials vs. Extras?

Back-to-school season is here, and trust me, those supply lists can be a mile long! We’re diving into the nitty-gritty of shopping smart, so you don’t end up spending your whole paycheck on stuff that’s just “nice to have.” I’m sharing my foolproof strategy for separating essentials from those tempting extras that kids always seem to want. Let’s get real—shopping with a plan is the way to go, and I’m here to help you tackle that list without breaking the bank. Stick around, and let’s make this back-to-school shopping a breeze as we answer the big question: How Can I Shop Smart for School Supplies: Essentials vs. Extras?

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Back to school season is upon us, and let's be real, those supply lists can feel like a never-ending scroll of demands. You walk into the store armed with a list, but shortly after, you find yourself coming out with a cart full of stuff you didn’t even know you needed, right? That’s where today’s episode kicks off. We dive into the art of shopping smart, focusing on what your kiddos actually need versus what’s just shiny and tempting. It’s all about avoiding the dreaded budget regret and keeping those dollars in check while still making your kids feel like they’re getting the good stuff.

Ralph breaks down his back-to-school strategy, which is more like a life lesson in financial stewardship wrapped up in a shopping guide. He emphasizes the importance of crafting a ‘needs only’ list—think of it as your shopping battle plan. We talk about reusing what you already have, whether it’s those half-used crayons or last year’s backpacks that are still in decent shape. It’s a reminder that sometimes the best deals are the ones you already have waiting for you at home. Plus, we touch on how to involve your kids in the shopping process without losing your mind (or your wallet).

At the end of the day, it’s all about teaching discernment and making this back-to-school shopping experience a fun, educational moment instead of a stress-fest. Ralph wraps it up with a heartfelt prayer asking for wisdom in our purchases and a smooth school year for all, proving that financial confidence and faith can totally go hand in hand. So, grab your list, and let’s shop smart this year!

Takeaways:

• Back to school supply lists can be flashy, but let’s focus on what we really need, fam.
• Creating a needs-only shopping list can save you from budget blowouts and stress, trust me.
• Involve your kids in shopping decisions to teach them the difference between wants and needs.
• Shopping smart means reusing what you already have before buying new stuff, no need to overspend!
• Comparing prices and hunting for sales is key, but don’t get distracted by tempting discounts.
• Start the school year with a clear plan and watch your financial confidence soar, it's a game changer!

Links referenced in this episode:

• financiallyconfidentchristian.com

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Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Hey, listen, back to schoolsupply lists are here and they're
long and they're flashy andI'm going to tell you right now,
trending gear is tempting, butis it necessary? Today's show I want
to talk about shopping smartto get what's needed and save big.
Stay with me today. I'msharing my school supply strategy.
That's we're going to cover ontoday's show.

(00:21):
This is Financially ConfidentChristian, your daily dose of gospel,
grounded insight and faithdriven tips to help you break the
cycle of financial shame with confidence.
Hello there and welcome backto Financially Confident Christian.
I'm Ralph and we're enteringour next day of smart money for Back
to School and Beyond. This isour new series where we talk about

(00:42):
how to save money and get backto school and actually move beyond
that. Now, if you missedyesterday's show, we talked about
how to budget for Back toSchool with peace. We laid out the
way to do that and today we'regoing to move on to a big conversation
and that's essentials versusextra. I'm going to talk about smart
school shopping and how to doit without losing everything in your

(01:03):
budget. If you're like me whenmy kids were younger, you enter the
store with this list and likemost people, you leave with twice
as much as you came in with.Because if you're like my kids, they
ask for all the fun extras.I've mentioned this on yesterday's
show talking about how mysister and I would do this to my
mom. Like I said, I can stillremember shaking down my mom when

(01:24):
I was younger. And as a parentyou want to say yes, that's what
we want to do for our kids.You want to give to them. But as
we say yes, that total juststarts climbing up and in comes the
stress. And if we're beinghonest with ourselves, it often leads
to guilt or even budgetregret. But here's the thing I want
to remind you of. It's realeasy to get lost in this. Shopping

(01:48):
should be guided by wisdom andit should be guided by stewardship.
Let's look at the Bible forjust a couple of quick verses. I'm
gonna look at the book ofProverbs, chapter 4, verse 7. I'm
not even gonna talk the wholescripture, but this is what it says.
It says wisdom is supreme. Getunderstanding. That cuts to the chase,
doesn't it? And first Timothy,chapter 6, verses 6 to 8 says, Godliness

(02:10):
with contentment is greatgain. Having food and clothing, we
shall be content. Well, whatis this really Saying to us, it's
something we need to remindourselves about and also remind our
children about. Needs need tocome first and extras. They're okay,
but they're okay if they'replanned. And this is a great opportunity.

(02:31):
Hey, your kids are gettingready to get back into school to
start learning. This is agreat opportunity to teach your kids
discernment. And you couldteach it right now because stewardship
applies even in the back toschool aisle. So now you're saying,
Ralph, I am 100% on board withyou, but what can we do? Well, here's
my solution and this one isgoing to cut right to the chase.

(02:53):
We got to create a needs onlyshopping list. We got to reuse what
we can and stay laser focused.Because here's the truth. Shopping
with a plan leads to peace andit leads to savings. So here's your
one action step for today. Andthis one is not going to be very
complicated today. Maybe alittle bit of negotiating with your

(03:14):
kids and might be a littlecomplication. But start by creating
a needs only list. We talkedabout yesterday assembling that school
list. I want you to just gothrough that and highlight only the
true necessities. What are thethings we absolutely have to have?
Because I don't know aboutyou, but when my kids were younger,
now my kids are in their 20snow, so we're kind of disconnected
from this. There was always abunch of stuff on there, like, yeah,

(03:35):
that'd be nice, you had it,but you don't need it. I think sometimes
these teachers in theseschools send out this bucket list
of stuff they love to have.But what do you really need? So start
by that. Create that needsonly list. And then the second thing,
I kind of mentioned thisyesterday. Shop your home first.
We often overthink that. Lookat the inventory that you already
have for supplies, look at theclothes that your children already

(03:57):
have, and look at thedifferent tools and technology things
they have. Because the truthis, if we're being honest, like I
mentioned yesterday with mywife, with buying those durable backpacks,
it's a great time to reusewhat you already have. You don't
have to go out and buy newjust because it's a new school year.
We gotta go buy new stuff. Sosecond thing, shop your home. And
then I'm gonna encourage youto compare prices and use sales.

(04:19):
Hey, back to school is nojoke. You'll see sales all over the
place. Just be careful youdon't get sucked into buying stuff
you don't need. So lookonline, look for any Flyers. And
listen, here's the thing yougotta guard against. And, and, and
the, the online retailers aregood about this. Don't buy just because
it's on sale. See, you mighthave that necessity list, you might
have that needs list. But you,you're, you're paging through or

(04:41):
you're online and you see thisother thing. Amazon says, oh, this
is a must have, must havemaybe, but it's not on your needs
list. Maybe it's on your wantslist. But just because it's on sale
doesn't mean you need to getit. So only buy what's needed. Stick
to your guns on that list.Now, here's another thing I'm going
to highly recommend, and thisis as your kids get a little older,

(05:02):
you're not doing this with 3,4 and 5 year olds starting kindergarten.
But involve your kids withsetting these boundaries. Let them
help you. Maybe you let thempick one small extra item for the
back to school season. Maybe.Say, listen, okay, here's the things
you absolutely need. Here'ssome wants you listed. I'm gonna
let you pick one of thosethings. Now, it needs to be within
reason and I would venture tosay it needs to be something that

(05:24):
would actually be useful forthem. But this is a great place to
start teaching your kids thatdifference between those wants and
those needs. I think that'sone of the biggest problems that
we have with our children iswe don't do a good job of teaching
that difference between needsand wants. Because if you're like
me, you're that parent thatwants to please your kids, you want
your kids to have maybe thethings that you didn't have. It's

(05:47):
so easy to get in that trap ofneeds versus wants. But this is a
great opportunity. This backto school season. They're starting
to get in the mind ofeducation again. Start teaching them
that difference between theneeds and wants and it will be beneficial.
That will produce benefits forthe rest of their life. And the reason
that we're doing all of this,why this helps today, it prevents
that budget blowout. It's soeasy to blow out your budget when

(06:10):
you get to the store andyou've just got this massive list.
If you haven't really takenthe time and invested the time in
hammering out what are theneeds and what are the ones. And
make sure, like I said before,shop your house first. I remember
we talked about this on theshow a couple of weeks ago. That
junk drawer, Remember? Back toschool time. My mom was pretty frugal
about that stuff. She Would goto the junk drawer and it was amazing

(06:32):
how many number two pencilsshe would pull out and, and half
used erasers. And she wouldsay to us, listen kids, you don't
need to go buy new stuff. Igot it right here. Now, of course
we'd hem and hallway, but weneed the new pencils, the fancy ones
with the red, you know,whatever, you know what I'm talking
about. But this will help youprevent that budget blowout. If you
have that needs list and thisbig picture, it's going to reduce

(06:52):
that family stress. This is avery stressful time for people. You've
sort of gotten to your, yoursummer off season. You know, everybody's
stress level is going to behigher. We're doing different routines
every day. Maybe your kidsplay after school sports or involved
and other extracurricularactivities and you're trying to juggle
around, you know, how do youget this one to here? Another great

(07:13):
thing that this does, it'sgoing to build financial confidence
not only in your stewardship,but in your kids. Your kids are going
to see this as an opportunityto say, hey, mom and dad really taught
us a lesson. Remember, back toschool time. I can still remember
it now. I'm going to be 53years old in September. And as I
prepared for the series, I wasthinking about the lessons that I
learned from my mom duringthis time. How she was able to really

(07:35):
stretch that dollar. And atthe same time, this is going to protect
your goals because you reallygot those, those financial goal set
and it's going to meet thosereal needs. How about we pray together?
Father God, we just want tothank you for the opportunity to
support our children'seducation. We realize that it's so
important for them to beinvolved in a good education. And

(07:57):
Lord, we have to be honest. Weconfess that we sometimes overspend
or we act without planning,Lord. So I just ask you right now
to help us to shop withdiscernment, Lord, and help us to
be intentional in ourpurchases. We ask that you would
teach us to steward wisely andto model contentment for our children,
Lord, so that they see whatthat looks like and they can use

(08:18):
that to be profitable in theirlife. And Lord, we just ask that
this school year would be oneof peace, one of purpose and one
of strong provisions. And weask this in confidence in Jesus name,
Amen. Listen friend, schoolsupply shopping doesn't have to be
stressful. Start by focusingon what's needed and shop smart this

(08:41):
year. And I'm going toencourage you right now, if you're
like other people and you, yougot other friends who are going through
this, share the show withthem. Other people are dealing with
the same back to schooldilemma and they're trying to figure
out how to make all of thesethings happen. And hey, share this
show. Share this series withthem. You can send them a text, you
can send them an email. Justsay, hey, Ralph just started this
series about back to school.You can find [e-mail]

(09:05):
because, hey, we got to workat this together. We can all build
each other up if we share theinformation we talk about on the
show every day. Well, tomorrowwe're going to talk about something
really practical. We're goingto talk about school clothes and
school shoes and I'm going totell you how to save with sales and
thrift strategy. So I'm goingto encourage you not to miss it.
So let's go out there todayand be financially confident Christians.

(09:28):
You can do this. I trulybelieve in you, believe in yourself,
stay financially savvy, Godbless you, and you have a great day
today.