Getting Ready for School: Buying Lunch Supplies

Thanks to Shannon at http://bentolunch.blogspot.com/, I went to the Dollar Tree and scooped up some Hello Kitty Lunch boxes (bento boxes) for $1 each. I did check to see if these lunch boxes were made in China. They were made in Indonesia, so I felt OK buying them. I would think twice about buying lunch boxes made in China because of the recent product recalls. The Dollar Tree I went to didn't have any more pink lunch boxes, they only have the blue and green ones left. So I bought 2 each. I found these lunch boxes in the Back-to-School section at the Dollar Tree near the front of the store. I figure if my son doesn't like Hello Kitty, I can always find some Power Ranger or Spiderman stickers to put over the Hello Kitty.

There is another Dollar Store I can go to in the next few days. If I'm lucky, I'll find some pink Hello Kitty lunch boxes.

These lunch boxes are 2-tier lunch boxes, the bottom lid sometimes sticks to the top tier box when I tried to separate the 2 tiers, but I don't plan to put any liquidy food items in any of these boxes. The 2-tiers fit nicely on the top compartment of the lunch bags that I bought at the Disney Store last year for $2.50 each. My son has a Power Ranger one, a Dash one (from the Incredibles) and a Pirates of Caribbean one. He is pretty much set, in terms of lunch bags, for the next 5 years.

My next stop was Sam's Club. I usually go with 2 other friends so we can split the bulk snacks that we buy into 3 portions. But both friends were on vacation and I needed to buy some snacks so the kids will have something to take to school on Tuesday. There weren't any bargains at Sam's Club. Just reasonably priced items. If I had time, I would go through my coupons and shop accordingly.

NOT MUCH OF A BARGAIN--

Funyons (50 ct) $10.18 [note: I know Costco doesn't have these.]
Kellogg On the Go variety packs (32 ct) $9.68
Sanitizer wipes (100 ct) $9.88
Quaker rice cake snacks (20 ct) $6.76
Sesame Street (Apple & Eve) Juice Boxes (40ct/4.23oz) $7.83

All the Halloween stuff are out at all the stores I went to today--Dollar Tree, Target, and Sam's Club. I saw lots of toy gifts (for Christmas) and Halloween candies galore at Sam's Club. I actually went to Kmart to find some Ant Killing Gel, but they didn't have it in stock. So I was in and out of there within 5 minutes. I don't like to shop at Kmart--things are badly organized and merchandises are not streamlined. It's not a comfortable shopping experience. I would put up with it if their prices are competitive with other stores, but that's not the case.