1)  Grocery store customer cards – Some stores, such as Food Lion have a program for schools.  Basically, the school registers at the grocery store and then the parents, grandparents, etc register their store card under the school’s account.  The school automatically gets proceeds from the sales.  There’s no need to sell anything.

2)  Restaurant fundraiser - Your child’s school can sign up at a restaurant such as Chick-Fil-A for a special fundraiser night.  Proceeds from that night go to the school.  Again, no need to sell anything.  If you want to show your support, you just come to the restaurant to eat.

3)  Cookie dough - Most people like cookie dough, especially around the holidays.  It’s easy to sell and it brings in a lot of money.  I was talking to a teacher last month and she said their school made about $10,000!

4)  Invest-in-a-Kid – My kids’ school does a fundraiser where they don’t sell anything. They simply ask for monetary donations for things the school needs.  It gives parents an opportunity to just give without having to sell.

5)  Candy bars -  These are a bit more aggravating, but pretty easy to sell.  After all, they’re only a buck. Most anyone will buy a candy bar. People don’t have to wait around for something to be ordered.

6)  Sodas - Schools can partner up with a soda company such as Pepsi or Coca-Cola. They take orders and money for the soda and then the soda is picked at the school on the arranged date. No delivery needed.  Usually the soda is about the same price as the soda from the grocery store.

7)  Read-a-thon or Walk-a-thon – Most people don’t mind donating money if the kids are going to do something useful like reading or walking.

8)  Silent auction – Parents and the community donate items of value.  It’s an easy fundraiser and you can get some great bargains.

9)  Coupon books – Each year my husband and I buy at least one coupon book which has coupons for dining out and entertainment.  The books generally sell for $20 and the school gets $10 for each book sold.  Most coupons in the book are for buy 1 get 1 free.

10)  Dinner or festival – Have a dinner or festival for the community.  Usually, schools serve spaghetti because it’s an easy, cheap meal.  Perhaps the school could do a fundraiser dinner and silent auction on the same night.

11)  Buy a privilege.  Some schools have one day each month where the kids can pay $1 to wear a hat to school.  I’ve also heard of paying $1 to wear a costume, flip flops, or crazy clothes.

12)  Box tops  – Most schools participate in this program and it’s super easy with no pressure.  Simply save the box tops from specially marked products.  The schools get 10 cents for each box top.

What do you think of these fundraiser ideas?  Do you have any others to add to the list?

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Post from: Thrifty Mommy

Post from: Thrifty Mommy

I’ll admit, one of the fundraisers was decent.  There were some things that I would not mind buying.   The other fundraiser was asking us to put the names and addresses of family and friends onto postcards so that they could ask for money for computers or something like that.  My little girl came home telling me that I needed to fill out her paperwork and send it back the next day so that she could get a t-shirt.  I thought it was a form to purchase a school t-shirt.  The form said that if two of the people on her list responded, then she would get a t-shirt.  Imagine me trying to explain to my 5-year-old child that she wasn’t going to get a t-shirt the next day and that it was a sales tactic.  Thankfully, she’s well beyond her years and she understood, but still she was heartbroken.

For the most part though, I feel that these fundraisers are inappropriate.  Here are some of the reasons why I don’t like school fundraisers.

1.  The stuff is overpriced.

2.  It’s usually crap that I can’t use. 

3.  Kids are made to feel left out or unaccepted if they don’t participate or do well.

4.  I don’t like being stalked at church, outside Wal-Mart or anywhere else by children trying to raise money.

5.  You get little bang for the buck.  I mean, really, $8 for 25 square feet of wrapping paper?  Are they serious?

6.  There’s little to nothing you can do if the item doesn’t work.  Well, you could take it back to the school and demand a refund, but that would just make you look like a cheapskate that doesn’t care about children.

7.  I feel guilty if I don’t participate.

8.  I don’t feel right asking others to buy overpriced stuff.

9.  I get frustrated and annoyed every time I see the product that I paid too much money for.

10.  Many times the parents are the ones that do the selling which causes them to sell these things at work.

Before you start casting stones, please understand that I am an educator.  I know the importance of these fundraisers.  Honestly though, I think there’s a better way.  I’ve seen some pretty creative fundraising tactics at some of the schools I’ve worked at.  One school did a Coca-Cola sale.  The soda was just as inexpensive as if I had bought it at Wal-Mart, but they received a lot of proceeds from it.  What about a spaghetti dinner?  My daughter’s preschool did several fundraisers where the kids could bring in $1 and earn a special privilege such as wearing a hat to school.  Schools could even ask parents to send in a tax deductible donation at the beginning of the school year and then decide how much more money they should try to raise after the donations were brought in.  Some people would rather just give money anyway.

I’m sure I’m not the only one that feels this way.  How do you feel about school fundraisers?  Please leave your comments below and participate in our poll in the sidebar.  Thanks!

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Post from: Thrifty Mommy

Yesterday I went to Target and after looking at about 40 or so lunchboxes I finally decided on the Artic Zone lunchbox.  It has a bottom chamber with container, which is perfect for keeping sandwiches safe.  The top part is tall enough that it will hold a sports bottle upright so that it won’t leak. 

Finding the right lunchbox is important to me because I don’t want to waste my money on something that doesn’t work for us.  Still, paying $8.99 for a lunchbox made me cringe and complain.  After all, I am a clearance shopper. 

I bought the lunchbox at Target and then headed Wal-Mart.  Imagine my surprise when I found the same lunchbox for $6.34.  That’s a savings of $2.65 each!!!!  You can see the pictures here.  Compare the two Artic Zone lunchboxes and you’ll see there is very little difference between the two.  The one on the left is from Wal-Mart and the one on the right is from Target. 

I purchased the lunchboxes at Wal-Mart and then returned the other one to Target.  I can handle a savings of 30%!

Have you found a big difference in the prices of things between Target and Wal-Mart?

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Post from: Thrifty Mommy

Some of the parents probably thought I was a snot, but honestly there really is a difference in the name brands.  Trust me, after teaching for several years I had seen student after student become totally frustrated and upset because their school supplies didn’t work well.  I’ve seen glue sticks come out of the tube in a clumpy mess, crayons that worked as well as candle wax, and rubbery pencils that you had to sharpen half way down to get them to work.  It is insanely annoying!!!!

The point of all this is to say that it is worth the effort to purchase the better brands of school supplies.  They last longer and your child won’t become as frustrated.  Thankfully, now is the time to stock up on quality supplies.  Today I got the 2-pack of Elmer’s glue sticks at Target for 20 cents.

Have you noticed a difference in the brands?  Which ones are your favorites?

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Post from: Thrifty Mommy

• Bic 10-pack mechanical pencils 1.82
• twin-pocket portfolio with prongs  .15
• Elmer’s 4-ounce glue or 2-pack glue sticks .22
• Bic Cristal 10-pack blue pens .88
• 70-sheet spiral notebook  .05
• Crayola 24-pack crayons  .22
• Georgia-Pacific copy & print paper  3.00
• Pilot 4-pack G2 pens 3.50

Stock up now so that you don’t have to pay regular price later.  I’m sure you all have seen some great sales on school supplies.  Please share them.

Post from: Thrifty Mommy