I love back to school shopping, mainly because I can buy a TON of random office supplies without my family thinking I’m crazy. From grade school to college, my back to school shopping has definitely changed so I split my shopping list into to categories. The first being, ” school related” and the second being “home”.
I have plenty of supplies in my stash at home, but the few school related things I like to stock up on every year/semester are
- post its
- paperclips
- page flags
- pens
- mechanical pencils
- black and colored ink
- 24 pound paper
- highlighters
- 3 subject Five Star notebook
- file folders / accordion folder
These are things I use for studying or for keeping my documents organized. I’m super picky when it comes to things like paper and pen quality, so my go-to brands are Five Star, TUL, Post- It, Uni-ball, Sharpie, and basically any big name brands that carry quality products, most found at Office Depot.
For planning purposes, I don’t mind using fun pens and cute Target sticky notes, but when I am studying I don’t want to worry about my pen going out or my sticky notes not sticking properly, and I also prefer to keep all school supplies plain; with out decoration and 100% functional.
My “home” school supply shopping list is very different. These are the things I like to make sure I have by the time school starts.
- candles
- water bottles
- hand sanitizer
- hand lotion
- granola bars
- shoes
- jeans
- sweater
- comfy t shirts
- sweatshirts
- bobby pins
- hair ties
- dry shampoo
- chap stick
- pack of gum
- makeup (if anything is running low)
When the semester starts, I am usually pretty busy and most likely stressed, so I don’t want to worry about clothes shopping, finding comfortable walking shoes, or running out of my daily cosmetics.
I ALWAYS burn a candle when I sit down to study, so I stock up on different relaxing scents like pineapple creme, vanilla, pumpkin, peonies, lemon poppyseed, green tea, lavender, and other scents that aren’t too harsh.
Being comfortable is my MAIN focus when getting ready to head to class, so I like have plenty of options when it comes to clothes and shoes. I own about 50 sweaters/ sweatshirts because even if its hot outside in the beginning of fall, it’s most likely freezing in class. Same goes for pants. I always wear something that doesn’t constrict me so I can relax and focus on the task at hand.
For shoes, I like to wear a comfortable pair of athletic shoes, slides (that are easy to walk in) or boots when it starts getting chilly.
I also like to keep hand sanitizer and hand lotion in my backpack along with some type of lip balm. I also keep a hair tie and bobby pins with me in case I may want them.
Last but not least SNACKS. Being out of the house for hours at a time, I’m bound to get hungry or thirsty. I buy waters in bulk and always have one in my back pack, and usually keep a granola bar or bag of almonds to hold me over until lunch or dinner.
