Money Money Money Money.... MONEY!

I've been staring at my computer for about 15 minutes without completing anything actually worthwhile.

I've tweeted a few times, I've caught up on some other blogs, and I've tracked all of the shipments that I'm expecting. But in the scheme of things.... none of that was productive. 

But let's catch up on some of the things I accomplished this week!!

If you're a teacher, then I'm sure you've been keeping one eye on the "Back to School" sales and one eye on the "Tax Free Weekend" schedule. 

I took full advantage of this.

I finished my Rules/Procedures Powerpoint on Thursday (before going to see Fantastic 4) and felt great about my progress and my use of hashtags and memes in it. I woke up on Friday ready to buy my school supplies and take advantage of the sale. 

Let me tell you, I was NOT impressed.

I spent hundreds of dollars.

Let me repeat that.

I SPENT HUNDREDS OF DOLLARS ON MY CLASSROOM ON FRIDAY.

Just thinking of the number gives my heart palpitations.

I looked around for the best prices on things and ended up going to 4 different places. I thought I was going to save a buttload of money, but now I feel like I never even made a dent. 

I got the usual stuff like pencils (only the best for my classroom), crayons, markers, tissues, paper, and hand sanitizer.

But then I was told to get a broom, dustpan, bandaids, and surge protectors. 

There was a whole list of things that I knew I needed, another huge list of things I didn't know I needed, and a somewhat smaller list of the things I didn't need but would be a good investment (presentation remote (like this one I used during student teaching), rolling cart with drawers from each class (this splurge I just HAD to have!), my own trashcan, a couple of books for my bookshelf etc.).

I seriously want to cry. I know that I'm spending this money and the things (hopefully) will last me the rest of my career, but it's still hard to do. I know that I get paid on August 17th with both my teaching paycheck and my coaching paycheck from last spring, so I shouldn't feel too terribly, but I just can't stop thinking about how much everything cost!

So when places like Staples, Office Depot, Wal*Mart say they're having sales... I wouldn't fall for it. 

I'm just going to do my school shopping at the end of the year next year. 

I feel like I didn't save anything.

So this all made me wonder: How much do first year teachers spend on average? And then every year after, how much more do they spend?

How do teachers know what to buy? (Let's be honest, I have NO idea if I have everything I need.)

How can teachers afford all of this?

It's all a little depressing.

Have advice or a story you want to share on shopping for school supplies?

Leave it below!

Until next time,

Zilla