Pin these Budget Friendly School Uniforms for Boys

If you have a tight Back to School Budget, check out these school uniform options for boys:

Follow Uniform Mom's board Best Bets for 2014 Back to School Uniforms for Boys on Pinterest.

The Kickoff of the 2014 Back to School Shopping Season

Have you seen the Back to School ads popping up in the weekly circulars and in your inbox?

I am now more attuned to the retail cycle that I was before I started this blog, but it still seems really early. My daughter just got out of school 2 weeks ago, and the neighboring school district, that had even more snow days to make up this year, got out last week.  But here we are kicking off the Back to School shopping season.

According to National Retail Federation’s 2013 Back-to-School survey conducted by Prosper Insights & Analytics, families are paying attention to these deals earlier than ever before: 24 percent of consumers with children in grades K-12 last year said they began shopping for school items at least two months before school started, a significant increase from 15 percent in 2007.

"In places like New York City where school ended just a few days ago, preparing for “back to school” can be hard to believe for some parents. But for families who wish to avoid the long lines typically associated with late August school and college shopping, spread out their spending and ensure they get their hands on the hottest products at a reasonable price – some retailers have them covered."

AN EARLY PULSE ON THE BACK-TO-SCHOOL SHOPPER

By Kathy Grannis The National Retail Federation 

The research from the NRF's Retail Insight Center shows that over 76% of adults in households with school aged children say that the economy will impact their Back to School Shopping.  The chart below shows how:

Economy's Impact On BTS Plans

Information Among households with a school age child

Charts from the NRF Foundation’s Retail Insight Center.  To access this data and more research please visit the Retail Insight Center.

Steps to Throw a Green Summer Party

As summertime begins and families head to the beach, the park, the mountains and other favorite spots in the great outdoors, it’s a good time to remember there are easy ways to celebrate our love of Mother Nature by throwing a green party. This post was submitted by Sandra Ann Harris Founder at ECOlunchbox, our affiliate partner.

Affiliate Links in Use

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Step 1: Location, Location, Location

Pick a picnic spot you can walk, bike or boat to or arrive by public transit. If that's not possible, carpool with friends.

Step 2: Choose an Eco-friendly Invitations

Whether throwing a baby shower, a beach party, birthday picnic or backyard BBQ, you’ve got to let your guests know about the green fun you're planning in eco-friendly style! If it's a neighborhood party, print invites on recycled paper and personally hand them to guests. Or use electronic invitations, which are convenient and don't waste paper.

Step 3: Green Menu Planning

Great produce makes the chef's job super easy. Think simple. Finger foods like cut fruit, nuts, local honey and peanut butter sandwiches are simple and nourishing for all ages. Also, some cheeses, like brie and camembert, are lovely softened in the sun over fresh-baked bread.

Farmer's markets have the freshest and tastiest fruits and vegetables available from the area. Organic products are hormone and pesticide-free, making them safe to eat.

Make your own beverage and serve it in a plastic-free pitcher. That way you don't have to deal with all the cans and bottles.

Step 4: Waste-Free Dinnerware

Say goodbye to throw-aways and plastics. Ask picnickers to BYO dishes, water bottles, utensils, etc. This can be done tastefully if you explain you're hosting a zero-waste party and need some help to accomplish this.

If that’s not your style, pack a sturdy cardboard box with reusable items to share with your invitees, such as non breakable stainless steel picnic plates, reusable bamboo utensils, reusable straws, washable cotton napkins and sturdy mason jars for use as cups.

Sure you may have to do some washing, but much of this stuff will naturally decompose. Plus, you're saving money by going waste free.

Step 5: Showcase Mother Nature

Nature’s beauty is inspiring when it comes to setting the table in eco-style. Leaves, flowers, pinecones, twigs, seashells and other natural treasures can be showcased on your eco-friendly BBQ or green a beach party blanket.

Step 6: Clean up!

Clearly mark bins for recycling, compost and waste for your guests. Since most public parks don't separate waste and your efforts will end up in the trash, toss your separated bags into the trunk to put out with your recycling/trash pickup at home.

ECOlunchbox is offering several summer specials:

$10 Off Ecolunchbox BBQ Party Kit

$10 Off Ecolunchbox Beach Kit

Buy 1, Get $10 off Solo Cube Lunchbox

Back to School Uniform Best Bets for Boys

Best Bets are lists of carefully selected suggestions for your Back to School shopping list. I've done all the homework for you. I've reviewed the school uniform collection from all the major retailers, compared features, sizes and color selection. Then compared the prices for these uniform staples and identified the target price range for each item. Even the highest priced and best quality items can be had for a price in the target range by a savvy shopper at some point through the season.

Browse the following articles to help plan your shopping priorities. Although originally published in 2013, each of these posts have been reviewed for accuracy and updated for 2014 due to selection and pricing changes at the retailers.

• Kids Polo Shirts
• Boys Oxford Shirts
• Boys Pants
• Boys Shorts
• Boys Sweaters
• Boys Blazers
• Kids Accessories

(photo used with permission from Microsoft)

Related Posts:

Back to School Uniform Best Bets for Girls

Back to School Uniform Best Bets for Girls

Best Bets are lists of carefully selected suggestions for your Back to School shopping list. I've done all the homework for you. I've reviewed the school uniform collection from all the major retailers, compared features, sizes and color selection. Then compared the prices for these uniform staples and identified the target price range for each item. Even the highest priced and best quality items can be had for a price in the target range by a savvy shopper at some point through the season.

 

Browse the following articles to help plan your shopping priorities. Although originally published in 2013, each of these posts have been reviewed for accuracy and updated for 2014 due to selection and pricing changes at the retailers.

• Kids Polo Shirts
• Girls Pants
• Girls Shorts
• Girls Scooters and Skirts
• Girls Knit Polo Dresses
• Girls Jumpers
• Girls Blouses
• Girls Sweaters
• Kids Accessories

(photo used with permission from Microsoft)

　

Related Posts:
Reviews of Girls Cardigan Uniform Sweaters
Cherokee School Uniform Pants, a Review
Children's Place Uniform Shorts, a Review
Children's Place School Uniform Cotton Sweater, a Review
Cherokee School Uniform Scooter, a Review
French Toast brand Skinny Stretch Twill Pant
Izod Flat Front Uniform Skirt, a Review
Review of the Girls Izod Short-Sleeve Woven
Lands End Knit Ruffle Front Knit Dress

Lands' End Uniform Girls Solid A-line Skirt, a Review

Saucony Radar LT LTT Sneakers, a Review

Helpful Technology for Parents

There are so many ways I use technology everyday to help with parenting and everyday household tasks.

• Use the reminders on my phone to jot down key to-dos with deadlines.
• I use maps to navigate to play dates and birthday parties.
• The phone camera - I used to carry a separate camera in my purse and take it with me everywhere so you can always capture that cute shot at the park or at the playground.  Then one day I realized that the camera on my phone was better quality then the camera in my purse. No reason to carry the camera anymore.
• Book and Game Apps - to entertain our daughter in waiting rooms.
• Calendar - All activities go on the calendar with invites to Dad so we both have it on our radar and can coordinate schedules.

The folks at Vanaia LLC offered to let me to take a look at their new productivity app, ScanWritr.  It is another tool that fits right in a Mom's toolkit.  The description of the new app is below:

ScanWritr is a fast-growing, easy-to-use professional document scanner and PDF converter. Simply scan that sheet of paper, watch as app’s Real-Time Edge Detection does its trick, fill out the blanks, sign it, convert to PDF and send it to the receiver via e-mail, fax, social media etc. – all within the comfort of your own mobile device!

 They created this video as a Tribute to the Modern Mom:

 

 

There are many useful reasons to get this app, but the first one to come to mind is to use it as a tool to deal with all of the cute stuff that comes home from school in the book bag. My daughter brings home a ton of art projects and homework assignment that are so sweet that you want to save them all. The problem is that if you did, you'd end each school year with a big box full of mementos. Don't know about you, but we don't have enough space to hold on to those items. This app gives you a way to scan and save the precious artwork in electronic format. You can then backup those documents with all of the photos and videos that we take and keep for sentimental reasons. 

You can check out the new ScanWritr app on iTunes, GooglePlay, Windows Phone, or on the Blackberry. There is a free and a pay version of the app. 
The tokens can be redeemed within the app – no purchase of any kind is required, since we also offer the free version of ScanWritr app. Vanaia LLC is giving away free promotional codes for the premium version of the app.  The details are below:
About the giveaway:

For Andorid, Windows Phone & Blackberry users: the code for a free fax token is: “SCANWRITRFREEFAXTOKEN”. There are 1000 codes in the total value of $990, which can be redeemed until 15th of July or until the 1000th was claimed.

For iOS users: there are 100 promo codes for ScanWritr Pro on iOS (premium version of the app, which otherwise costs $3.99)  A list of iOS giveaway codes can be found in this shared file. Each code can be redeemed only once.  Please note which code you redeem by placing a strikethrough that specific code, so others can move on to the next code in the list. Instructions on how to redeem iOS promo codes.

Chores and Allowance: Teaching Kids about Money

My daughter wanted to get another new Barbie set. At the time, we had just celebrated the Christmas and her birthday, so I refused - thinking to myself that one more toy was the last thing that she needed. Later when she was counting up the money in her piggy bank, I saw an opportunity that educators call "a teachable moment". I suggested that she had enough money to buy herself that Barbie toy. She considered the idea and agreed to spend her money on the toy.

Later that week, we visited the local Target store. She picked out her toy and carried it proudly around the store as I picked up the items from my regular shopping list. At the checkout, I told her to get in line in front of me. When it was her turn, she handed the cashier the Barbie set and then handed her a twenty dollar bill. The cashier gave her a few coins in change with her toy in a bag. She was so happy to get the new toy, she stood beaming with pride while I checked out with my items.

That week she played with her new toy and decided that she wanted yet another one. Again we visited the local Target store and repeated the shopping experience for another $20. The following week, when she wanted a third new toy, we recounted the money in her piggy bank. To her disappointment, she didn't have enough money for it.

This presented part two of the teachable moment - earning money.

Later that evening, her Dad and I talked about starting an allowance plan. Like many families, we debated the pros and cons of weekly allowance verses a plan to allow her to earn money for performing household chores. While there are benefits that having a weekly allowance can teach the kids the value of saving money over time. However, we didn't like the idea of giving her money for money's sake.

I spent the evening reading a bunch of parenting articles online trying to figure out-

1. How much allowance is appropriate for her age? 
2. What chores are age appropriate? 

The best advice I found is that the amount of the allowance should be appropriate to how you expect them to spend the allowance. For example, a teenager might get a higher allowance and be expected to use the money to buy their lunch at school each day and have a little extra to save up for a special item.

The other consensus from my reading seemed to indicate that a dollar a week for each year of their age is an appropriate dollar value. Seven bucks a week for my seven year old? While I wanted her to be able to save up in a reasonable amount of time to get herself that new toy as a reward for disciplined savings, it seemed like too much money for no effort.

So, I kept reading and researched age appropriate chores. I found a list of chores that I thought she was capable of performing regularly. I then devised a system which, at least to me, seemed like a nice compromise.

Chores for our seven year old:

• Cleaning the Playroom
• Assisting with unloading the dishwasher
• Set the table for dinner
• Clear the table after dinner
• Swiffering the upstairs bathrooms
• Swiffering the downstairs (bathrooms and kitchen)
• Water the plants
• Sort the laundry
• Fold and put away own laundry
• Gather trash from the wastebaskets

We agreed to give her an allowance of $3 a week. The catch was that this amount could be reduced for bad behavior such as the occasional 7yr old tantrum, not cooperating with a reasonable request from Mom or Dad, etc. The upside, is that she could earn additional money (around $3-4 a week) for doing chores around the house. A "big" chore like cleaning the playroom would earn her a dollar, while small chores like swiffering the floors or watering the plants earned her a quarter. Chores were divided into categories of things she could do daily, a few times a week, or weekly. I created a flyer that could hang on the refrigerator and be used to keep track. If she missed her opportunity to help sort the laundry on laundry day, then she missed that opportunity to earn money for that chore for the week.

We explained to her they new system at dinner one evening and hung the new chart on on fridge. She set a goal to buy herself an American Girl doll. In another post, I'll share with you how this system has been working for us so far.

(image used with permission from Microsoft)