Though August has only just arrived (cottage vacay in three weeks!!) and there’s still a whole lot of summer left, it won’t be long before the kiddos return to school.

As far back as I can remember, we went back to school shopping each and every year. New backpack, lunch box, pencil case, shoes, clothes, pencils, markers, thermos – the works.

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But as a parent myself now, with a school age child, I really don’t see the point in the big expense every friggin’ year.

To be perfectly honest – there is no sense in spending, what can amount to, a lot of money when it’s not always necessary.

Let’s do a round up of what elementary age children need for school.

This is based on what I’ve receive from our daughter’s school and tips for other parents whose children are roughly the same age.

• Backpack, lunch bag, ice packs, storage containers, water bottle
• Indoor running shoes
• Clothes

That’s it folks! But, let’s break it down.

Unless your child is just starting JK or totally wore out last year’s back pack and lunch bag, there is no reason to purchase a new one. We always have a spare (or two) on hand of each since you never can tell how much abuse these items are going to take.

Plus, if you pay attention to sales at your favourite retailers, they often put backpacks and lunch bags on clearance after school has started – so you can save a few bucks if you buy “off season”.

I don’t know about you, but in our house we have about 20 (not exaggerating) water bottles on hand at any given time. Grocery shopping, road trip, beach, fishing – we pack a water bottle.

The same goes for ice packs and tupperware containers (litterless lunch). I bring my lunch to work, more often then not, and we use tupperware on a daily basis. So, again, don’t waste your money.

A rule from the school is that every child must have indoor shoes. You know – no unnecessary dirt in the classrooms, no doggy dung in the gym, and no mud tracked in to the library. But if you pay attention to athletic store sales (Sport Chek, National Sports, etc) you can score some really good deals. No need to fork over a fortune, just use you shopping smarts. Check out some great deals here.

Ahh, the back to school wardrobe! I always used to look forward to this – though now I understand why my parents dreaded this. New clothes!! Need I say more? But to be perfectly honest, I don’t see the point in buying new threads for the first day of school.

Where we live (Ontario, Canada) and where, I’m sure most of you live, the weather is still quite warm at the start of September. Therefore, our kids are still gonna where their summer attire for the better part of a month. Why, in heaven’s name, would we buy our kids a new wardrobe until new clothes are absolutely needed.

I don’t know about you, but my daughter grows insanely fast. She really does grow like a weed. So, I’m not gonna buy her new jeans, sweaters, jeggings, etc – just to have her out-grow them in a month! When the weather starts to change and the clothes start to get heavier, then we will buy her new duds.

There you have it! Depending on what grade your child is starting this fall, you really don’t have to buy anything for back to school.

Just give your son or daughter a hug at the start of the day and tell them to be great!

P.S. One purchase I made when my girl started JK was a set of personalized labels for EVERYTHING my daughter took to school. These super adhesive, stick to anything labels go on literally all of my daughter’s belongings. There’s a tag for her backpack, bigger decals for her shoes, and smaller stickers for her jacket, lunch containers, water bottle, hat – everything. Check them out here.

Cheers to the wonderful time of the year – for parents!!