Back-to-school shopping tips, tricks and deals!

TOP OF MIND

Back-to-$chool
When you're a parent, you begin to look at the calendar as a guide to when you'll have to spend money, and unfortunately, every year is littered with mines: birthdays, holidays, doctor's appointments, extracurricular activities, and of course back-to-school shopping.

According to the National Retail Federation's annual back-to-school survey, American families with kids from elementary school to high school are expected to spend an average of $875 on back-to-school items.

That's a lot of money, especially these days, when we're all contemplating donating organs to cover the monthly grocery bill.

But don't worry, we've got some back-to-school tips & tricks for you, and none of them include organ harvesting!

The important bits
The first thing you should do before shopping for your kiddo is to see if your state has a tax-free weekend. In total, seventeen states offer these sales-tax holidays during the back-to-school shopping season. For a full list of the states and dates, click here.

Expert tip: use tax-free weekends to buy higher priced items.

The second thing you should do is SPREAD OUT YOUR SHOPPING! We know how tempting it is to get everything done in a single trip, but you're going to lose money doing that.

The third thing you should do? Take full advantage of price matching! If you find a cheaper price on a store's website, most big retailers will honor it in person, and some retailers (like Best Buy) will also match prices at competing stores.

Target actually offers something called retroactive price matching and will refund you the difference if an item you purchased goes on sale within two weeks after purchasing. If for some reason they don't honor it, just return the product and then buy it again. We realize this can be time consuming, but do you want to keep your kidney or not?

Also, here's a list of nearly 30 stellar back-to-school deals.

What's it all mean?
Parenting is expensive. Even more expensive than you think.

DID YOU HEAR

👵 It pays to be a grandparent in Sweden
50 years ago, Sweden became the first country in the world to introduce paid parental leave for fathers and not just mothers, and now they're doing the same for grandparents. Under this new law, parents can transfer some of their parental leave allowance to the child's grandparents. Single parents can transfer up to 90 days of their 480 day allowance. Yes, that's right, parents in Sweden get paid parental leave for nearly 500 days.

✈️ Parents might soon save big at the airport
Some good news! The U.S. Department of Transportation is proposing a new rule that would ban airlines from charging parents more to sit with their young children. Under this new proposal, U.S. and foreign carriers would be required to seat children ages 13 or younger next to a parent or accompanying adult for free! U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says it could save a family of four as much as $200 in seat fees.

✊ Kids aren't getting the emotional support they need
Nearly 1 in 3 U.S. adolescents are receiving mental health treatment. That might have something to do with the lack of support they're getting at home. According to a new CDC report, only 28% of teens agreed that they're always getting the social and emotional support they need. The same study asked the parents of those teens if they believe their kid is getting the emotional support they need, and 77% of them said yes. That's a pretty big disconnect. Read more here.

🎂 Birthday candle drama
A popular TikTok mom recently sparked a heated debate after posting a video of her allowing all of her kids to blow out the candles on her 11-year-old daughter's birthday cake. This reaction video has over one million views and lots of angry people in the comments. But is the mom in the wrong? Or is everyone overreacting? The experts weigh in here.

🔤 They changed the alphabet song
Oh, geez. You have to hear this.

A DOSE OF GOOD

@thebestpenguins

me walking past the other moms at a school event #walking #school #penguin #cute #fyp #nature #animals

BITES WITH KIYAH: THE MOM GROUP YOU’VE ALWAYS WANTED

At the risk of adding yet another “thing” to your to-do list, I want to make sure you know about the FLAWsome Mom Club - a community that is all about embracing our imperfections and finding strength in our shared experiences.

Join the Flawsome Mom Club here.

It wasn't until I let go of my personal expectations for perfection, that I started feeling confident as a parent, and I want to share that experience with all of you! Join me to connect with fellow moms, share your journey, and remind yourself that you are awesome, flaws and all!

I really want to build this community with you, so get in early!

Kiyah is the co-founder of Kizingo Kids and an expert in nutrition. Follow her on Instagram.

HERE’S A QUESTION

Last week we asked you where you do most of your grocery shopping, and there was a tie for first place between Walmart and Trader Joe's/Aldi's!

RECALLS

Do not eat deli meat right now!
Hopefully you're already aware of this, but if not, there's a pretty big listeria outbreak going on. The recall is impacting Boar's Head deli meats, which is often considered to be a premium brand of deli meats. The company has recalled more than 7 million pounds of meat made at their plant in Virginia.

Over 30 people have been hospitalized. Tragically, there's already been two deaths linked to the outbreak.

Get all the information you need here.