My daughter has been in the public school system all of a month, and I have already spent a small fortune on things like magazine subscriptions, a school sweatshirt, an earthquake kit, PTA memberships, class pictures and teacher supplies. But then I come to work and read about budget cuts and bond measures, feel guilty for complaining and order some overpriced, shiny, retro gift wrap.
If you're feeling my pain, here are some ideas culled from PTA Web sites around the South Bay to help schools without going bankrupt yourself. By the way, these work even if you don't have kids. Pick a school in your hood, your alma mater or a mascot you like and hook them up with some corporate donations that won't cost you one extra cent.
RAID YOUR PANTRY
There are a couple of programs that may have been around when you were in school that are still going strong. You clip labels from cans of soup, cereal boxes and a bunch of other stuff and your school gets points toward buying something from some catalogs of stuff. Save them up and then send them to school with your kid now and then. I have a Ziploc baggie (the Ziploc box has points!) hanging on my fridge so they don't get lost.
If you don't have a kid to send them to school with, you can give them to a neighbor who does or drop them by the school of your choice at some point during the year. They'll take free money from anyone, trust me.
Check out these Web sites for more info:
Box Tops 4 Education
Site lists participating products, random contests to earn extra points, and other programs that give a kickback like 6% on purchases at barnes&noble.com when you buy through the "reading room."
Campbell's Labels for Education
Site lists participating products and how-to tips.
MAKE YOUR SHOPPING COUNT
eScrip
Register your credit, debit and grocery club cards and participating stores will give a percentage to the school you want to support. Macys, Vons, Pavillions and Hows are some of the biggies that participate in this program.
South Bay Galleria
You buy whatever you're going to buy anyway and then show your receipt to the guest services people to earn points for the school of your choice.
Ralphs
Register your Ralphs loyalty card and you'll earn a percentage for your school based on how much you spend per month.
Albertsons
Link your loyalty card to your school and earn some percentage of your expenditures.
Target
Register your Target credit card and get 1% of your purchases donated to the school of your choice. The Web site let's you track how much your school is getting. For example, Mira Costa High School in Manhattan Beach has 232 designated card holders and it earned about $1,750 in September. That's a pretty good kickback for buying shampoo and toilet paper.
