The Five Best Back to School Items: College Edition

Dear Adventure Avenue,

I love back to school shopping. There is something about the start of something new that screams the need for new pens, stationary, and all things organization. However, as a college student based in frugality, I’ve narrowed my list of items down and have found cheaper alternatives to my long-time favorites. 

1. Agenda – I have done the $20 agendas as well as turned a nice notebook/journal into an agenda (which is a great idea if you are creative and need a sort of creative outlet – perhaps more on this later 🤔). This one from Amazon is undated, affordable, and does a great job of tracking my days.
2. Pilot Pens – These .5 point pilot pens are my favorite, but the multi-pack from Costco in .7 can be a better deal if you want lots of different colors. I usually only use the black ones.
3. Notebooks – I’ll let you in on a little secret, I am a big fan of these 5 Star Notebooks. I think they’re great and I used them throughout high school, and then reused some that still had blank pages in them (what can I say; I’m frugal). The reality is, at the end of the semester, it doesn’t matter what shape the notebook is in because I am most likely done with it. With that said, I now go with the cheap store brand ones when they go on sale at back-to-school time. 
4. Pencils – I have a little trick with pencils, I always keep at least two “freebie” pencil in my pencil case in case someone inevitably asks to borrow a pencil during an exam, and then I have one that I can use to fill out a scantron. These freebie pencils come from all those college tables trying to get you to join some sort of club or program. I’d argue this is one of the better promotional giveaways because it’s useful. By doing this, I don’t have to give up my more expensive mechanical pencils that I love.
5. Backpack – Arguably this should be a High School edition item because I’ve had this Jansport blue backpack since high school and have continued to use it throughout college. Unlike other backpacks I’ve had that only last a year, this one has lasted me over 6 years now. It is definitely worth it, and I can see myself using it after college too. I have the dark blue one but some of the other ones are cheaper:

Hope you find these tips helpful! Comment with your favorite back to school item!

Sincerely,

A

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