School Supplies on Shine

Eco-friendly solutions ... inspired by worms!

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Tom Szaky started out as a young man with a dream and a whole lot of . . . worm poop. Really! He first encountered a worm composter as a student at Princeton, and once he saw how organic fertilizer was born, he was hooked.

Lunch what? (The smarter lunch carriers)

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LunchBots are stainless-steel food containers that just surged to No. 1 on our back-to-school shopping list.

Last-minute back-to-school savings strategies

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We are a week away from the start of school at our house, and we are wringing every last bit of summer out of these final days. That means we are not running from store to store, grabbing up armfuls of notebooks, pens, and jeans. My kids all love back-to-school shopping as much as most kids, but after a few years at the back-to-school routine, together we've come up with back-to-school strategies that help us save money and precious end-of-summer time.

Even if school has started for your family, chances are you're still picking up the odd notebook or folder required by a certain teacher, or starting to look for clothing sales and deals as the weather turns cool. So, here are a few last-minute school shopping tips before the homework really starts to pile up.

A+ back-to-school shopping tips

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By Katie Adams According to the National Retail Federation (NRF) back-to-school spending will total $47.5 billion. Four in five consumers say the

Help your college kid get organized

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I was at my local bookstore earlier this week and this CollegeCase (US$20) caught my eye. It's a sleek binder filled with pocket folders for bills, banking information, pay stubs, and all of those…

Use a simple binder to stay on track with your kid's school life

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While school-age kids are adjusting to their new routines, parents are trying to deal with their own back-to-school issues. The current hot topic of discussion with my mom friends is how to keep track of all of...

5 Ways to Go Green for Back to School!!!

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Back to School Fact: 49.8 million students will attend public elementary and secondary schools in fall 2008.

Things I am eagerly awaiting right now: Cheap home accessories, a new hotel and custom furniture

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Of course, there is apple-picking and fall fashion and reading smarter books and going to afternoon movies without feeling like you're wasting precious hours of sunlight—I am looking forward to all of these things, for sure. But fall is shaping up to be a good time for interiors, too, so I wanted to share a few things in the world of home and design that have me on the edge of my seat right now:

John Derian's line of bargain-priced decoupage housewares for Target, coming in September. (Here's hoping it looks as classy as his expensive stuff, because the last time I bought something of his—as an anniversary gift for friends—it nearly bankrupted me.)

How to cut your back-to-school shopping bill in half

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It's back-to-school time, which can get expensive fast for parents. A friend of mine was helping compile her sons' teachers' supplies list for a Staples-PTA online fund-raising effort and discovered one fourth grade teacher's list alone added up to $85. One class, one child. And that's before you even hit the clothing stores.

So while gathering the kids in the car and heading out to buy pens and notebooks and new shoes is billed as a fun, American back-to-school ritual, it can lead to some pretty hefty bills sandwiched between summer vacations and holiday spending. We're all looking for ways to save this year, so with that in mind, here are some ideas to cut your back-to-school shopping bill in half. Please add your own savings ideas in the comments below!