The stores have been PACKED with people buying back-to-school stuff. I can barely squeeze through to look at the clearance racks. I’m doing some shopping myself, but I’m also doing some NOT-shopping, which is very nice. My money: I like it and want it to stay with me.

Here’s what I’m NOT buying this year:

1. Whole new back-to-school wardrobes. I try to buy most of the kids’ clothes on off-season clearances, and with four boys we have a lot of handmedowns. “Being September” has so far not been a motivating reason to buy clothes. It IS a good time to buy socks and underwear on good sales—and in a few weeks, when everyone is done paying full-price for Being September wardrobes, some of the clothes will start going on nice clearances too.
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I’m not quite in the BACKTOSCHOOLOMG headspace yet, since my oldest kid is in year-round preschool and the other is still young enough to lustfully gnaw electrical cords if you don’t watch him, but I understand it’s kind of a Big Deal, getting all the supplies and whatnot. I assume preparation is exactly how it’s depicted on The Wire, where a violent criminal named Marlo gives children money to buy their school clothes, in order to create a lasting debt and sense of loyalty so he can better use them as pint-sized drug dealers? I mean, I don’t want to have to pay for these things myself, for crying out loud.

Anyway, in the back-to-school theme, I was thinking about lunch-toting products that might be useful to read about. We did a post on lunchboxes last year, and we also covered some BPA-free products—I’m thinking these subjects are two great tastes that taste great together, you feel me?

(God. Sorry. The Wire: ADDICTED.)

I’m still not super worked up over BPA, but my thinking is this: since BPA-free products are so accessible these days (and generally not more expensive), why not buy those instead? It’s a pretty easy choice for me, and I’m all about easy choices. Here’s a neat selection of food storage solutions—perfect for holding school lunches—that are all BPA-free.
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