Time to stock up on art supplies

It is that time of year again! School is right around the corner

                         TIME TO STOCK UP ON ART SUPPLIES FOR THE KIDS!


I always buy a ton of art supplies this time of year. It makes it nice in the winter when the kids need something to do. I go to the "magic" closet and there is stuff for making crafts on hand. We go through alot of crayons and glue at our house.This time of year they are practically giving some of it away; Pens, pencils, erasers, crayons, glue, notebooks, tape, scissors, etc.

It is worth my efforts to stock up now. It saves me a ton of money in the long run. When my husband needs a notebook, I have one on hand. I also keep some extra for birthday gifts. A notebook, along with stickers, pencils, erasers, etc. can be a nice enough gift for a younger child. (they do not have to know that it cost you pennies).

FILLING UP THE MAGIC CLOSET

All this stuff goes into the magic closet. It is the place where I keep all those things that I have bought for pennies on the dollar. My husband was commenting on my stash of stuff in the closet. "What is all this?" he says. "Valentines for the kids" I reply. I bought them at 90% off. It cost me pennies and I am prepared for February 14th. I bought some Easter novelties for pennies on the dollar, they too go into the magic closet.

I love Christmas candy clearance. I usually buy hershey kisses.They come wrapped in red, silver, and green. It only takes a moment to sort out the red and silver for Valentines, and the green for Saint Patricks day. There are other red and white items that can be used for Valentines day. The trick is making sure that they do not have a winter/Christmas theme printed on them. I bought some red napkins a few years ago. They came in handy for wrapping Valentine treats.

Our Anniversary is in March I usally buy left over Valentine's day stuff for that. I have gotten some really cute items for my sweetheart and it only costs a fraction of the regular price. Just beware of "Happy Valentines" written all over it.

 A few words of advice: Candy can go stale over the course of a year. Do not  plan  on buying Christmas candy to give as gifts next Christmas. No no one likes a gift of stale candy. Only buy what you will truly use. Beware of the trap of buying because it is dirt cheap. I wrote a post about frugal ways being a blessing or a curse. If you missed it you can read it HERE.  You can save alot of time and money if you pay attention. Using the buy ahead priciple has really blessed my life.



Has your life been blessed by being prepared and buying ahead? if so, leave a comment and let us know about it.