45 Back To School Items for $18.95

I am totally mental. Or I have wayyyy too much time on my hands. How, you might ask, can a full time working mom of two and wife of one possibly have “too much time on my hands”? Upon perusing the kids’ back to school supply lists, I almost had a coronary. There were 56 items total that I needed to purchase for both kids combined. I took the two lists and made one list so my head didn’t have to ping pong back and forth between these two rambling pages. The Sunday ads from Walmart, Walgreens, Office Max and Staples were all laid out for a side by side comparison of all school supplies. I have no doubt turned into my stepdad who will drive 10 extra miles because tomatoes are on sale at that grocery store vs. the one I’m standing in right now.

At Walmart, there were 70 page spiral notebooks for .05, what a smokin’ deal! I searched high and low to no avail. NO 70 page, nickel spirals were in sight. Not one. Just as my eyes started to well up, I asked a clueless, unhelpful Walmart employee where they might be. No reply. Just then, turning the corner on two wheels, an evil, fleeing woman had her cart LOADED to the gills with FULL BOXES of 70 page spirals. Pig. She was running, escaping from anyone in DESPERATE NEED of spiral notebooks, witnessing her overzealous hoard, as she ignored my desperate cry, “WHERE DID YOU FIND THOSE?!?!”

Alone and downtrodden, I was about to give up hope, when a mysterious woman shopper overheard my plea, and with a dirty, cracked fingernail, she pointed in the direction that the coveted spiral notebooks were hidden. The golden treasure was innocently waiting on a hand cart, quietly resting in its cardboard box still, untouched. I took 3 in the colors specified on the list and hugged them to my chest. A successful shopping trip at 4 stores, purchasing 45 out of the 56 items listed for a mere $18.95 in less than 2 hours (kids not present). Go me, go me… I am waiting for the remaining 11 items to go on sale, in which I will probably visit 7 different locations. Think I need a life?