Back to School Shopping Doesn’t Have to Break the Bank

Back to school shopping doesn’t have to break the bank, y’all. See if you can save a few bucks with Schoola. How does Schoola work and will it work for you?

With the children heading back to school in a few short weeks, I’ve started scouting the papers for all the back to school deals I can find on shoes and clothing. With three children in school, the month of August gets very expensive around our house. Even saving just a few bucks here and there can do wonders for the budget.

I recently learned about Schoola, which was launched in the 2012/2013 school year by Stacey Boyd, a parent, teacher and former principal. With budget cuts taking away funding for elective courses in many schools around the nation, Stacey found a unique way to help.

Parents donate their children’s outgrown, gently used clothing by requesting a free, postage-paid bag; Schoola sells the clothes they receive online for incredibly low prices; 40% of the sales are sent back to the school to help fund these programs. Not only do the schools benefit by receiving funds to help with the costs of these programs, but parents benefit too. It’s an easy way to get rid of your child’s outgrown clothing; it’s an easy way to help your child’s school, and it’s an easy way to refill the closet with gently-used clothing in your child’s size.

Starting with just one school a couple years ago, Schoola is now 3,000 schools strong. That’s 3,000 schools that can buy those paintbrushes for art class. That’s 3,000 schools that can buy more instruments for the school orchestra. That’s 3,000 schools that can buy more books to fill the library.

The above outfit is just an example of what you can find on Schoola. This outfit, with brand names like Gap and Levi’s, will only cost $19.20. If you shop at Gap, you know that you can’t find much of anything for under $20 in the whole store, but when shopping gently used clothing at Schoola, you can get a whole outfit.

Today, I’m actually focusing my efforts on KIPP Academy. Thankfully I live in an area where the schools haven’t been terribly affected with the budget cuts, so I wanted to seek out a school that offered something I was passionate about. KIPP Academy fit the bill. I love music so I feel supporting KIPP Academy is a natural fit for me and my family.

Schoola makes it easy to support your child’s school, even when you don’t have the extra means available to help. If you have gently used clothes that your children can no longer wear, request a bag, fill out your school information, and donate the clothes. Then, the school you chose to support will receive $2 of every $5 made.

What are your thoughts on this innovative way to help schools?