How to Ace Back to School Shopping

Throughout my many years in school, I always enjoyed starting a new school year. Sure it was exciting seeing new and familiar faces, meeting the teachers and discovering your schedule (or most importantly, who was in your classes), but what did I love most about the start of a new school year?

School supplies shopping!

Yes, I loved back to school shopping. I looked forward to getting my supply list and heading to Staples after the first day of class. #totalnerdalert

However, now that E has received school supply lists, I dread it.

What has happened to me? Maybe it’s because her lists are so basic or because it serves as another reminder that my baby is growing up, but I have no desire to fight the crowds over glue and finger paint. And guess what? You don't have to either.

The past two years, I have made back to school shopping the easiest process for our family. When we received the first supply list last year, I began to scour the internet. I did not have a lot of time to spend on my lunch hour trying to find the needed items or confirming that they were in stock. While I love Amazon, I quickly discovered that their pricing was on the high end for these standard items. Even though our Prime membership would provide free two day shipping, I started to look elsewhere. Much to my surprise, I wound up at Walmart (online, not physically). Here, I found all the items I needed at a much cheaper price.

When this year’s list rolled around, I decided to try the same process as last year. I immediately went to Walmart.com and found all of my items. I purchased them online and within a few hours, I received a text and email that half of my order was ready for pick up. The next day I received final confirmation that all the items in my order were available. I popped some Xanax (I kid, I kid) and headed out on my lunch break for the adventure known as Walmart. Last year, I sent J to pick up the items, but I decided to put on my big girl pants and prayed that I would have a pleasant experience.

My prayers were answered! When you order online, you go straight to the pickup counter at customer service. What does that mean? That means you skip the checkout lines and you bypass all the people waiting in line for customer service. You can imagine the looks I got when I proudly walked up to the counter. I had the friendliest employee who pulled my order. When we realized some items were missing, he ventured into the backroom and found the rest. As we confirmed my order, a few of the finger paints fell out of the box (it was not closed all the way) and this man apologized like it was his fault when it clearly was not. He bagged my items for me and just like that, I was headed back to work. By far, this was the easiest and most positive experience I have ever had at Walmart. In fact, I left a five star review on their Facebook page and plan to call the manager about their awesome employee. I know, I know. I’m still in shock over it myself.

If you have limited time, hate to shop or dread taking your kiddos with you (it is okay, we all have those moments), then this post is for you. Take a risk and place your order online for pickup. It’s quick, easy and you can price compare online! While I had success at Walmart, I know that Target also offers this option as well.

I’m sure as E gets older we will have our own back to school shopping tradition, but for now, this works for us. Surely I am not the only one who utilizes this option so if you have any tricks to share, let me know!