Only a few weeks to go and the kids are back in school… are you prepared? As a busy parent you may often rely on lists to keep you organized, with that in mind Stockn’Go has decided to help remind and motivate you each week with a new list of things to do.  This weeks checklist is in honor of the kids going BACK TO SCHOOL! A bittersweet moment for most. Print out, or even download and modify the list below to be sure you are ready for the big day!

Downloadable Checklist (template from Microsoft Office 2007): Back to School Checklist

Don’t forget to check out the Stockn’Go Back to School section for great deals on school supplies!

So, you’re going off to college. Exciting, isn’t it? Most colleges give out a list of ‘must-haves’ for incoming freshmen, but here are some green and money saving tips for that list, as well.

Get a bicycle. You might need a car for longer trips, but for getting around campus there’s nothing more convenient and energy saving than a bike. You won’t have to pay for a parking pass or hunt for parking. You’ll save money on fuel – and what college student doesn’t need to do that? You’ll get fit and bypass that ‘freshman twenty’ so many incoming students have problems with. There’s not really a downside to riding a bicycle around campus.

Need appliances? Buy used and/or look for the energy star rating on them. If you can have both – you’ve just saved energy and re-used. Double win for a green life.

Get a travel mug or reusable water bottle – and use them. You’ll keep tons of plastic out of our landfills and you’ll save money. Buy a water filtering pitcher or a filter that fits on your faucet instead of buying bottled water.

Turn off the lights, and put fluorescent light bulbs on your ‘must-have’ list. You’ll save energy automatically with the bulbs, and if you get in the habit of turning off the lights when you’re not in the room, you’ll save even more.

Plug all your electronics into a power strip, and unplug the power strip at night or when you’re not charging or using them.

Get a reusable bag to carry books or for shopping. Stop the plastic bag habit now, and you’ll be part of saving our environment. If you do get an occasional plastic bag, reuse it.

Buy your books used, or better yet, rent them. You’ll save lots of money, and you’re doing your part to reduce waste by re-using textbooks.

Buy health and beauty products in bulk. You’ll get a better price – always good for college students – and you’ll save energy. How? Shipped once = less fuel.

You can go to college and lead a green life. You’ll save money doing so, and you’ll be helping save the earth. Do you have any green tips for me? Let me know on twitter, Facebook, or leave me a message here on the blog.

If you’re heading back to school – either high school or college – you want your skin to look its very best. You’ll start the school year fresh-faced and glowing when you follow this very simple regimen.

Wash your face twice a day with a gentle cleanser. Using harsh cleansers that strip all the oils from your face actually make your oil glands produce more oil. Harsh cleansers or exfoliants can also irritate any bumps or acne you have, making them look worse.

Do you have acne? Treat it with a spot treatment for acne. Check the ingredient list and make sure it contains salicylic acid in no higher concentration than 2%. A higher concentration can make your skin red, can cause peeling, and will make your acne look worse, not better.

Does your skin get shiny throughout the day? Having your skin produce a lot of oil might be a pain, but it’s actually not a bad thing. The oil your skin produces contains Vitamin E, which acts as a barrier on your skin. If the shine is too much for you, use oil sheets to remove oil without smudging your makeup.

It might seem counter intuitive, but you need a daily moisturizer. Choose a light daily moisturizer with an SPF that won’t clog your pores. Your skin needs sun protection, and a light daily moisturizer will keep your skin looking dewy and healthy.

If you need to cover dark eye circles or acne spots, use a concealer. Green tinted concealers will camouflage redness, which works well on acne spots. Yellow tinted concealers work well on under eye circles. Dot on concealer sparingly, then use foundation over the concealer to make spots and circles disappear.

Do you have any back to school skin care tips? What’s your daily regimen like? Let me know on twitter, Facebook, or leave me a comment her on the blog.

If your no-longer-so-small child is heading for college, you might have to worry about furnishing their dorm room or new apartment, along with supplying them with health and beauty products. I went through this a couple of years ago, and it can be a budget killer. College is expensive enough – add in health and beauty items that they’re going to need and stuff for the dorm, and it can send your budget into a tailspin.

If you’re looking to furnish the dorm room, I just read a great article at Yahoo Furnishing a Dorm Room for Under $100. It has some practical ideas both for storage and for finding things on the cheap.

If your child is going off to college, they’re going to need health and beauty products, as well. You want to find them as inexpensively as possible. These savings can add up, and make a significant difference in the amount you have to pay.

Shop online for health and beauty products for great prices.

Look for free shipping – that’s important. No matter how low the prices are, a high shipping cost can knock those savings right out.

Look for coupon and promo codes – I’ve got a couple here for you.

5CASH35 for $5 off $35 at StocknGo

10CASH69 for $10 off $69

25CASH125 for $25 off $125

All these coupon codes come with free shipping, as well. That adds up to even more savings, always a good thing when you’re on a budget.

Is your child going off to college? Are you ready? How do you save money on their back to school costs? Let me know on twitter, facebook, or leave me a comment here on the blog.

Summer is almost over. School is getting ready to start. If you’re a parent, you might be breathing a sigh of relief. (Or even doing a little yay-back-to-school dance in private.) It might not be such a time of celebration for your children. Here are a few things that can help your child transition back to school.

Listen to your child and if she has fears, acknowledge them. Don’t try to soothe – it’s not necessary, and most likely they’ll have an argument for everything you say. ‘Yeah, but…’ isn’t productive. Just acknowledge their fears, and just doing this can help them go away.

Start your school bedtime now. Don’t wait until the last week to start making your child go to bed at school year times. Make them get up at the time they’re going to have to when school starts, as well. If you give them at least two weeks to get used to that routine, it will go much better during the school year. They won’t come home exhausted the first month of school while they acclimate.

Buy them something they really want for the first day of school. It doesn’t have to be huge, and you don’t have to go all out and spend too much money on clothes or accessories. Just one thing – even something as small as the erasable markers they want – will make the back to school blow easier to bear. Hunt thrift shops online, or spend one Saturday trudging through them looking for treasures if you’re short on cash. It’s not what you get, really, it’s the fact that your child gets something they want, not something they’re forced to have.

If you have teens, let them shop for beauty products for school. Being a teenager, they’re going to give you a list a mile long if you don’t set a price limit first. Hunt for bargains before you turn them loose on the retail world. Hey, I’ve got some for you already: Shop at Stockngo before August 31st, and you can use these coupon codes at checkout to save money.

5CASH35 saves you $5 off a $35 order, plus free shipping.

10CASH69 saves you $10 off a $69 order, plus free shipping.

25CASH125 saves you $25 off a $125 order, plus free shipping.

Back to school doesn’t have to be stressful. As a kid, even though I moaned and groaned about it most theatrically, I was always ready to go back to school. I’ll bet it’s the same for your kids.

Oh, and if you want even more ideas to beat the back to school blues, watch this:

It’s almost time to go back to school. Are your kids ready? Prepare them for school and get them enthused about learning with these tips. You can fuel their creativity and start them on the road to a good education. Learning can be enjoyable, and they’ll find this out now when you utilize these tips.

Read aloud to your children. Even if it’s no more than a few minutes a day, it’s an enjoyable thing. You’ll not only teach your child to love reading and learning, you’ll bond and strengthen your relationship. When your child gets old enough to read, have them read to you. Let them pick the book, and you’ll be surprised how much you both will enjoy it.

Keep books, magazines, and lots of reading materials around. If you don’t want to buy them, take a trip to the local library once a week or so. Set aside some time each week that you designate ‘reading time’. If they don’t want to read a regular book, let them read comics or magazines. No matter the genre, it’s all guaranteed to make your child love reading.

Keep crayons and erasable markers around for your child to draw with. Use scrap paper and make collages, or make papier mache figures together. Use washable paint to create paintings together and display them proudly. Set aside some time each week for art, and your child’s creativity will grow. Studies have shown that children who are exposed to art and do artwork score better on school tests.

Take trips to the local museum together. Look at the art, or discuss the history behind exhibits. It’s fun, and it’s a learning experience.

These things aren’t just for fun – they give your child an early interest in learning. This can have a lasting effect on their school performance. Don’t forget to have a good time while you’re doing these things, however. It’s not meant to be deadly dull and serious. Don’t think of it as a job – think of it as entertainment, and they will, too.

What do you do to get your children ready for school? Let me know on twitter, Facebook, or leave me a message here on the blog.

It’s almost back to school time! You’re going to need stuff. How can you balance a green life with back to school shopping? We’ve got some tips for you. Don’t worry – it’s easy.

Make a list.

Before you start your back to school shop, plan out what you really need. Do you have to have a new backpack? If it’s not too worn, don’t buy another. Do you really need a new lunchbox? Just because it is on the back to school list, it doesn’t mean you have to buy a new one. Reuse your old things as much as possible. Make a list and stick to it.

What are you writing with?

Try to buy greener choices in pens and pencils. Mechanical pencils are refillable, and are a better bet for the environment than the plain old number 2 kind. You (or your children) may need one small pack of regular yellow pencils for testing, but the bulk of your work can be done with the refillable kind. Go for refillable pens whenever possible, as well.

Watch your paper use.

On average, k-12 schools throw away enough paper to total about 750 trees a semester. If you have kids, you’re probably not going to be able to go paperless. It’s just a fact of school life. Most teachers won’t let them email their homework. Ditto for taking notes with a laptop or electronic notebook. That doesn’t mean you can’t take steps to cut down on your child’s paper consumption. Use both sides of the paper when you can and re-use everything that you can. Recycle all of it when you’re done.

If you’re in college, however, you can probably go almost paperless. When you can’t – use post consumer recycled paper. Make sure it’s processed chlorine free. Same rules go for using and re-using paper.

Buy in bulk

Especially when you have multiple children or you know you’ll be in school at least another year, buy products in bulk. Buy school supplies in larger quantities such as paper, pencils, and pens. But be careful what you’re buying in large amounts – if you’re not going to use it often, buying large quantities can be a waste of money.

Do you have any green tips for back to school? Let me know on twitter, facebook, or leave me a message here on the blog.