National Book Store shopping haul + Back to school tips

One of the things I look forward to when I was a student is shopping for back to school items. Come month of May after enrollment, Nanay, my brother, and I will troop to National Book Store at Grand Central in Caloocan to buy things needed for school. I’m always excited to buy my notebooks, April pa lang I’m thinking of my theme for the school year… kung puro Hello Kitty notebooks ba, or plain na Corona, etc.

I guess it has become a tradition and a bonding time for every Filipino family that they all go to National Book Store at the start of the school year. It sparks happiness and excitement for things to come, new books, pens, crayons, among other things. Even us mommies are excited!

Gwen will be in 2nd grade, it’s a bummer that her school requires the students to buy notebooks from them. Her school also provides an art kit that’s why we just buy supplemental things like art papers for projects, glue (lots of them!), ink, extra crayons, scissors, and sharpeners.

But before I show you my NBS shopping haul, I’ll share to you my back to school tips I practice even when I was a student.

Do an inventory of your remaining school supplies at home.

Baka naman you still have a lot of pencils or pens and doesn’t need to buy new ones. By doing this, you can save money because you will only buy the things you need.

Organize.

Since you’re already doing the inventory, why not organize. Group the items such as papers, pens, coloring materials and put them in labeled boxes. This way, you can easily find them when it’s time to use it for projects and assignments of your kids.

Buy in bulk.

Stock up on bond papers, folders, and colored papers. And like groceries, you can save more by buying in bulk like getting a ream of paper instead of a 50-pc. pack.

Ration, give your kids an allowable number of school materials they can use for a certain period of time.

Kids will be kids… Gwen loves art and whenever she sees a piece of paper, crayons, glue, and other at stuff, she’ll immediately use it to make something. Tell them to avoid wastage and save the materials for their school projects.

Check out back to school promos to avail discounts and freebies.

This is one thing I love about National Book Store, they always give the best value for your money because you get to have freebies. At NBS, you can get a free tote bag for every Php 1,000 worth of purchase or get a drawstring bag for 99 pesos or a lunch bag for 75 pesos. There are Grab & Go packs filled with supplies for Grades 1 to 6 starting at Php 145. NBS also has their Best Buy items which is more economical than other brands.

You should not miss the Grand Back to School Fair this weekend, June 1 to June 3, 2018 at Glorietta Activity Center. Check out the schedule below:

Now that I shared you my tips, let me show you some of the things I got.

1. Clean & Go Back to School Kit – Schools require a hygiene kit for their students and I’m glad that I can just grab this at National Book Store too. For only 149 pesos, it’s complete with hand gel, soap, wet wipes, toothbrush, toothpaste, tissue, comb, and towel.
2. Elmer’s Glue – Their Dual Tip Pen is very handy, dual tip kasi may fine point and wide spreader. Hindi rin madudumihan ang kamay ng mga kids because you just need to swipe the pen.
3. Colored Papers – I prefer these ones than art papers, I also use it to make labels for the books and notebooks.
4. Adventurer Plastic Cover – I like to use this brand because it’s thick.
5. Crayola Tin Can with sharpener – I bough this because Gwen has plenty of used crayons lying around. This way, she can organize it and use even the broken crayons, walang sayang.

Everything you need for back to school is at National Book Store! Back-to-school shopping made convenient and enjoyable for you. Don’t forget to drop by the Grand Back to School Fair at the Glorietta Activity Center! And when you’re done, share your hauls with the hashtag #BacktoSchoolwithNBS.