Save money on Halloween giveaways and Christmas stocking stuffers at back-to-school sales

Hate back to school shopping? Then why not make it multitask, shopping for holidays, too? Shop back to school sales for Halloween, Christmas gifts, stocking stuffers, birthday presents and other holiday gift-giving. Save gobs of money and time.

Get cool candy alternative Halloween treats at back to school sales. Stock up on stocking stuffers for Christmas. Who says you have to give candy at Halloween?  Buy super cheap pencils, stickers, crayons, glue sticks, pencil sharpeners and pass them out for trick-or-treat. Or give healthier back-to-school snacks: fruit snacks, granola bars, crackers and popcorn.

Who decreed that stocking stuffers must cost a lot? Sure stores would like you to think that $10 is cheap but we tightwads know you can fill Santa's sack much more affordably. School supplies make awesome, inexpensive stocking stuffers. Fill kids' stockings with markers, scissors, calculator and other useful stuff. Shop back to school sales for pencils, glue sticks, notebooks, markers, crayons, scissors, pens, activity booklets, coloring books and craft sets. Throw in some Free Printable Coloring Pages from my blog here.

Back to school sales are a good place to find cheap gifts for holiday toy donations. Do you participate with Operation Christmas Child? Think BTS sales for shoebox fillers. Or use them for grandkid goody bags or travel kits or Easter baskets...the possibilities are endless! I made travel bags for my twin 2-year-old grandsons when they moved to Louisiana. Their parents said these cheap little goody bags literally saved everyone's sanity on the 21-hour trip!

Oh and if you  have a little extra to spare, buy school supplies and donate items to a school to distribute.

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Last year, a family of seven kids perished in a home fire in Pennsylvania. Without faulting the Clouse family and with deepest sympathy, it's important to ask: could this tragedy possibly have been prevented? What can we as parents take away from this terrible tragedy? The need for family emergency preparedness. And the holiday season is a time to be particularly aware of fire dangers: candles in Halloween pumpkins, decorative candles, holiday lights, flammable Christmas trees. More decorations mean more things to catch fire. I almost sent our mobile home up in smoke (and us with it) leaving a Christmas candle burning. Thankfully, we had a smoke alarm and charged fire extinguisher and my husband is a quick thinker. So check those fire extinguishers and smoke alarms. Here are more resources for parents to prepare their children for emergencies and prevent home fires. read more

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