Buying Supplies ahead of time!

[newtomotherhood]

I was thinking of buying some school supplies ahead of time, I plan to homeschool and am thinking about unschooling. I know that DD is still quite young but I seen some crayons and notebooks on sale, so I was thinking of picking some up but was also thinking that it seems a little early! But as long as it is stuff that is guaranteed to get used eventually than it's not so bad right? I wasn't planning on spending more than $10 -$20 !

Am I overthinking this? or should I just leave it till she needs the stuff?

[frugalmama]

I'd do it - it's not like it goes bad or anything.

I picked up way more supplies than we needed because it was cheaper to buy extra now than to have to buy more at full price mid-year.

[zjande]

Depending on which news articles you read, you may be worried about hyperinflation on the horizon & so buy plenty of supplies now for that reason alone. But besides that, I say sure, why not? You know they'll get used, & you know they won't go bad or anything.

At a recent used curriculum sale I picked up a whole science curriculum for the 4th grade. It was practically free, I couldn't pass it up! Even though my next 4th grader is only 4 years old right now! lol

[newtomotherhood]

I am most likely heading in to the city tomorrow so I will see what I can find and will try to keep it really cheap, and stick to stuff that I know will get used regardless like notebooks, crayons, pencils and the like!

I may have to scrounge up a tote to store this in for the long term or I will risk losing what I have bought in my mess of a house, sure I got one around here somewhere!

[onyxravnos]

i did the same thing. Go ahead and by them. by some for those first few 'coloring' sessions where the crayons get mostly broken and go ahead and by the good ones too

[OkiMom]

As long as it won't dry up I say get them. Crayons, paper etc gets used up really quickly. My girls started coloring at between 12-18 months, I had to keep a close eye on them but it was a lot of fun for them. Markers, paints, ink pads, glue etc can dry up if stored for a while. I had some paint stored for around 6 months and it was rock hard when I went to use it.
Oh make sure you have the storage space too! Don't get something bring it home and then figure out where to store it.. Not that I know anyone who would do that...

[earthmama369]

I always shop sales and promotions and stock up. If it's something we're going to use anyway, and it can store well, it makes sense to get it in bulk when it's at a good price, as long as I have the money on hand. (No shopping sales on a credit card!!) I probably have a year or so worth of paper and craft supplies at any given time. We go through those pretty quickly, so I really try to take advantage of good sales.