Start a kid's school year off right with just $15

      If you subscribe to your local daily newspaper or are a budget-conscious shopper, you're probably familiar with the weekly sales ads from grocery and drug stores.  Some people probably ignore these ads altogether while others look for deals and discounts on items they purchase frequently.  Yesterday, as I was looking through some of these weekly ads in the newspaper I wondered, what if people used the coupons and discounts offered in these ads to purchase commonly needed items for charities?

     With the back-to-school shopping season in full swing, many of the current ads feature deep discounts on school supplies.  I figured that with all the sales and discounts, I could get a good amount of items to donate to a local school supply drive.  So today, I went to the drug store in my neighborhood to see how much I could get for $15 to donate to a school supply drive.

Here's the final rundown of what I purchased and will be donating:

 

• Backpack ($7.49)
• Insulated lunch bag ($3.99)
• Pack of 10 pencils (33 cents)
• Pencil sharpener (50 cents)
• Small notepad (50 cents)
• Three 70-page notebooks (33 cent each)

     It took me less than 10 minutes and I didn't even need to use a coupon because all the sale prices were clearly marked (thanks Rite Aid!).  The total cost was $14.88.

     So if you haven't already donated to a school supply drive this season, now is a great time to do it before the sales end.  You just might be surprised by how much you can get and how big a difference it can make in helping a kid this school year.