Her hands-down best bargain stop was Walmart, where she found two glue sticks for 15 cents, book covers for 50 cents each, 1-inch three-ring binders for $1.78 and spiral notebooks for 5 cents. (How can they sell anything for 5 cents?)
Target had a few nice offers — eight Incredible Hulk pencils for $1 — but their best bets are for the college bound. A blender, coffee maker or Crock Pot is $16 and a Dirt Devil vacuum cleaner can be had for $35, not that it will get much use.
When it comes to lunchboxes and backpacks, my friend and I agreed the most resilient options come from L.L. Bean (llbean.com) and Land’s End (landsend.com).
L.L. Bean’s lunchboxes, from $12.95 to $22, are seemingly indestructible and are easily cleaned.
Backpacks from either company will last a number of years, too.
There are lots of choices for under $40; rolling packs can cost as much as $80.
After an entire year of use, my younger son managed to rip out one side of the handle on top of his Land’s End pack. With one phone call they offered to replace it, no questions asked.
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