Paper & Pencils & Pens, Oh My!

There's a great new cereal commercial that's been blitzing the airwaves lately. It shows kids congregating outside a school's doors, doing a reverse countdown that ends with a rousing "Happy School Year". It's an interesting mash-up that underscores the all-too-real feeling that years end with summer and begin with the start of school.

And you now are faced with the daunting prospect of getting school supplies for your kids, which, of course, starts with finding the list of required goodies that you haven't seen since it was handed to you on the last day of school in June. Some organized people out there have likely shopped in advance and have everything color-coded and ready for their kids' first day of school.

And then there is the rest of us.

Whether your kid is heading off to Dayton or Walton, chances are they'll need pencils and paper. And a protractor, calculator, dictionary, binders, combination locks, backpacks and sundry other items as well.

The Springfield Index work force did some legwork for you, checking out the various last-minute deals around town:

Christmas Tree Shops (Route 22 westbound): As usual, CTS offers a mixed bag. We saw name-brand  (Staples) notebooks priced for higher than we found them at the office supply store, but on the other hand there was a good selection of well-priced Yankees and Mets themed book covers, pencils and pens and Disney-brand merchandised aimed at the younger crowd.

Five Below (Route 22 westbound):  Have we mentioned that we * heart * Five Below? It just appeals to our cheapskate (and last minute shopper) nature.  Right then when we're scrambling and playing catch-up getting ready for an occasion – be it back to school or major holiday, there's Five Below offering just what we want at great prices. We were there mid-August and found the back to school offerings just meh when the displays were piled high at other places. We stopped in yesterday and were blown away by the quality and variety being offered. There were brand names such as Wilson Jones, Five Star and Meade and nothing is priced higher than $5. 

Goodwill (Route 22 westbound): Not the kind of place that you can count on being stocked with a variety of merchandise, but we've found that the store plays to the seasons. You can find Halloween costumes in late October, shiny wrapping paper around the holidays and baskets and bunnies in the spring. When we visited there was a huge stack of filler paper priced at 10 cents a pack. Can't beat those prices.    Check the shelves carefully, like they say more arrives (and is sold) every day.

Shop Rite (Morris Ave): Use your Price Plus card to snag bargains on school supplies like glue sticks and filler paper (99 cents).  One-subject spiral notebooks are pretty well priced at 50 cents and 10 count Colorart pencils are 33 cents. There's a pretty good variety of pens, markers, too, but mostly at full-price.

Staples (Route 22 eastbound): We love going to Staples and grabbing the low, low-priced loss leaders, like four Papermate retractable pens or Avery Label pads for $1 each.  We found filler paper priced at 79 cents a package, 39 cent spiral notebooks and 15 cent two-pocket folders. This is prime school supply season for Staples, keep checking back for more deals.