6 Tips for a Stress Free Back to School Season #BacktoYou AD

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf Sears.

#BacktoYou  AD

I am all over the Back to School stress and insanity!  There has to be a better way to get everything that my kids need without  breaking the bank and my sanity. Luckily, I planned ahead and have 6 Tips for a Stress Free Back to School Season. I am determined to stick with them as well. The first step is to shop the right sales. Sears has an amazing Back to School sale starting Saturday, August 9 and ending Tuesday morning at 9am. The sale is in conjunction with my state’s tax free weekend which makes it even more attractive to me! See if your state is included!

1) Plan ahead. It is so easy to let summer come and go without a care in the world. The lack of a schedule and the ease of the day can make planning anything seem taxing. But marking August 1 on your calendar to start the process of Back to School makes things a lot easier. Last year I waited too late and had a hard time finding sizes and supplies we needed.

2) Shop reliable stores.  Every Back to School season comes with a myriad of stores that offer deals. But I am all about convenience, planning ahead and real quality. Sears has always been a destination for me. Sears offers Free store pick-up which means I can shop online and swing by my local Sears to pick-up my purchases. And, when I arrive, I can use the Shop Your Way app to let the store know I have arrived and they’ll bring my purchases directly to my vehicle! A HUGE bonus with three kids!

3) Shop from home first. I love that I can go online and pick and choose with my kids as opposed to roaming aimlessly through the stores. Sears unique social community, ShopYourWay.com, allows me to research and browse products, create wish lists, poll friends and family and get advice from experts. The girls and I know what to look for before we leave the house! Or, we can just order online and spend our day doing something more fun!

4) Know what is in style ahead of time. My girls are not at the age where magazines influence a lot of their style. But they are at an age where their friends do. Aside from shopping with their friends to see what is ‘cool’, I don’t have many options. So I love that Sears gives me access to exclusive apparel, advice, shopping trends, deals and more to get my family back to school easier and faster. In fact, the Seventeen Fashion Collection has the styles my oldest daughter is looking for and it all retails for under $50!

See Sears.com/Seventeen OR shopyourway.com/Seventeen.

5) Don’t save it all for one day. As I said, last year I waited until the last week and the process was super stressful! The stores were out of the sizes I needed, the supplies I had to have for the first day and the kids wore out quickly being hauled from one store to another. So this year, I started early. With two weeks left until school, we only need tennis shoes and that perfect first day of school outfit. As the girls and I search Sears.com, we are finding so many options. This is a lot less stressful!

6) Make a budget and stick with it. It is so easy to get caught up in the excitement of ‘sales’. But the truth is, we need so much stuff for so many kids that busting a budget even on a sale can be easy. Because Sears.com gives me the real sale items and the ease of purchasing online and picking up in stores, I can plan and stick to my budget without going over. I know my total before I hit the stores.

There are so many options this time of year for parents. But by planning ahead and making sure that you know exactly what you need, you can have a stress free back to school season while still having happy, stylish kids!

Sears created a series of fun web videos that highlight the confidence a new look offers on the first day of school – and every day . Check out the “Back to School, Back to Wha?!” videos here: >http://www.sears.com/BacktoWha.

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf Sears.