VIDEO
Tuesday: Where are the best deals on school supplies?
Wednesday: Back to school clothing for less
Thursday: Laptop or Netbook?
Friday: Back to school gadget deals
Links and additional information
Tuesday – School Supplies
Frogfile eco-friendly office supplies: www.frogfile.com
Wednesday – Second Hand Savvy
MacGillycuddy’s For Little People
4881 Mackenzie Street, Vancouver
604.263.5313
Back to school shopping tips from Savvy Moms Sheila Colman and Michelle Tice
Second Hand Shopping
– Look to buy investment pieces second hand. Coats, jackets, sweaters and jeans are usually good finds, along with special occasion outfits as they don’t get the wear and tear. Stay away from t-shirts and hats and mitts. Just not worth it.
– Plan on re-selling your good pieces each season once your family is done with them. Don’t delay – items are more likely to sell if newer.
– As much as you can get away with it, buy neutral colours. More than one sibling can wear them and they sell more easily than hot pink.
– Don’t rule out second hand sports equipment and renting music equipment, especially when a child is just starting to show interest in an activity. Eg: Destination Ski Lease, Cheap Skates, lots of different hockey stores have hockey stuff.
– Don’t forget Craigslist for real deals!! vancouver.en.craigslist.ca
More Shopping Tips:
– With a strong dollar, midnight shopping on-line is appealing. Our favourites: LLBean and Land’s End. Good prices, fast Canadian delivery. Accurate sizing. No hassle return policy. Their stuff is really waterproof too. LLBean Land’s End
– Try not to buy everything in September – you don’t need it all yet as the weather is still warm (the deals often come later in the season and you can assess your child’s growth and needs better a little further into the season). The one thing you have to buy early, though, is outerwear, as it goes fast (there is a smaller supply), and shoes.
– Make sure you go through all your kids’ clothes from last year carefully – some stuff can last more than one season.
– Be practical about what your kids will actually wear – buying stuff that looks cute or trendy might be a waste of money on a child that doesn’t like certain things or gets too hot with big sweaters, etc.
– Make summer tees and dress shirts last longer, by buying long sleeve white shirts for boys and layering up.
– Make girl’s summer sundresses that are too small into funky tops by layering long sleeved white tees as well and pairing with jeans.
– When buying eco-friendly products (i.e. water bottles free of BPA, aluminum, etc), make sure you do your research and know your stuff. Often the price is an indicator of quality and true eco-friendliness.
– If trying to eliminate some of the dangerous chemicals in our kids back-to-school stuff, focus on plastic #3 (PVC or poison plastic) as it is the most harmful and since vinyl’s use is wide-spread…it is in many school supplies and raingear.
Back to School Tips:
· Ready-made labels that stick on – especially shoes, layering pieces and those stainless steel sandwich containers that we are now investing in- they go missing the fastest. The best are Mabel’s Labels http://www.mabel.ca Who has time to iron-on labels? Laundry markers are a great idea too, but labels can work on all surfaces. Label everything that comes off the kids backs during the day otherwise, you will definitely lose things that you spent good money on.
· Do yourself a favour and buy or borrow from the library a good recipe book for lunches and snacks. I have a few faves (all of Rose Reisman’s books and the Ultimate Lunch Box Book). It’s amazing how quickly we tire of packing those lunches.
Thurs, Sept 3 – Laptops Vs Netbooks
Advice from Bradley Shende, multimedia expert Media2o.com
Key Point in Choosing a Laptop for Back to School
Information sourced from:
Students may want various features when looking for a new laptop. These may include:
Friday, Sept 4 – Tech Gadgets and Accessories
Available at London Drugs:
Nikon Coolpix L19 Camera
$98.88 (on special this week)
Apple ipod 4gb Shuffle
$96.99
Mimobot Star Wars 4g USB Flash Drive
$49.99
Available at Best Buy:
Logitech 2.0 Speaker System (LS11)
$24.99
Dynex 15″ LCD HDTV (DX-L15-10C)
$169.99
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