top: mott & bow c/o (sized up 1) | pants: similar | sandals: madewell (similar) | bag: madewell | sunnies: karen walker || emma’s dress: old navy | emma’s sandals: target
Y’all, can you believe school starts this month? Emma Grace actually starts a week from tomorrow and I just cannot get over it. It doesn’t feel real; I’m not ready! I’m sure we all remember the dreaded feeling as kids of school starting, but who all loved back-to-school shopping? I absolutely loved getting new things to wear and seeing what all my friends got, too!
Fortunately for us, Abby wears uniforms, so shopping for her was quite easy. We got her uniforms from Land’s End and then ordered this plain pair of shoes from Zappos. I wanted to grab this pair (my girls have worn this shoe 3 years in a row), but it was out in their sizes.
top: mott & bow c/o (sized up 1) | pants: similar | sandals: madewell (similar) | bag: madewell | sunnies: karen walker || emma’s dress: old navy | emma’s sandals: target
save money with back-to-school shopping
MAKE A LIST:
Making a list is the very first thing you need to do. I start by dividing my list into two parts and writing down everything we may need for the school year.
- MUST HAVES – this section includes items like a new pair of shoes, shorts, a jacket, etc. Items your child absolutely needs/has to have for the school year.
- WANTS – these items are those items you’d like for your child to have, but they don’t “need” like an extra skirt, a couple extra pairs of shoes, etc.
LIST BY SEASON:
I also like to divide my list by season as it helps you spread your spending out. For example, my gals won’t need sweaters or jackets until late October because of the Texas heat, so I’m not planning on buying any of those items until several months from now.
DON’T LIMIT YOURSELF TO ONE SHOP:
This is not the time for brand loyalty. If you shop and one and only one shop, you may get duped into spending a lot more money than you needed to. After I have a list of the items I need, I start price shopping to see where I can get the best deals. For example, if Old Navy is having a sale on dresses, I get all my dresses there. If GAP is having a sale on shoes, I go there.
SHOP FOR WEEKS:
Yes, there is definitely a tradition of spending a whole day “back-to-school shopping,” but honestly, you’ll lose money. I make my list a month or more prior to school starting again and keep my eye out for good sales.
FILL THAT CART UP:
One of my tricks to catching good sales is filling my carts up. I consistently have several tabs open for different retailers with my carts full. I keep them full and wait and then when sale is going on, I pull the trigger.
VERSATILITY:
One of our favorite tips for back-to-school shopping is versatility. Pick items that can easily be styled in many different ways without kids knowing they were worn over and over.
AMAZON ACCESSORIES:
In order to keep me sane, I turned to Amazon this year to fulfill most of the non-clothes items my girls needed. With prime shipping, I’m all about not leaving the house if I don’t have to. I’d rather be spending my time with them at home or at the pool. This year we got Abby’s nap mat, the girls’ water bottles, and Emma Grace’s lunch box from Amazon. We also snagged some bento box organizers for their lunch boxes
This year Emma Grace and I had the same idea for our back-to-school styles. We are both gravitating toward neutral pieces, but there’s just something about stripes that was calling our name. Emma Grace scored this stripe dress (on sale for $8) and I have been living in my Mott & Bow tee. We love that both of these striped items can be worn alone or would look great layered under a denim jacket or leather jacket.
top: mott & bow c/o (sized up 1) | pants: similar | sandals: madewell (similar) | bag: madewell | sunnies: karen walker || emma’s dress: old navy | emma’s sandals: target
photography: maribel morales
