Milton Friedman would have been 99 today.  He could share more insights in 2 minutes than most politicians can in 2 hours.  Milton's teachings still contribute to the conversation to promote freedom.  You might want to watch these short videos with your kids to celebrate Milton's birthday.

1)  Here is my tip for saving TONS of time and money when it comes to back-to-school shopping: Every year when the back-to-school sale ads start arriving in the mail, I sit down with my 3 DD's and we start with paper and pens, at their dressers. We go through each and every piece of clothing, listing what they have that is in good condition and can be used as school clothes, boogy-ing the rest to charity or the garbage can. 

We then go through the boxes of clothes we keep in the basement, ones that are "in-between" girls right now, that haven't been fitting anyone. We try on and add those things that fit and are in good shape for school clothes onto our lists. Now each child has a list that tells what they have. Do they need underwear? Look at the list. Who has 8 pairs of jeans but no nice shirts? Who has 5 pairs of shoes and no socks? The list of "haves" tells us what the "don't haves" are, so making a shopping list is a piece of cake. Then we shop, sticking to the list of needs, instead of buying what is cute and coming home and seeing that we still forgot the socks and underwear. If the budget allows, I allow each child to choose one outfit that is not on the "need" list, to wear for the first day of school or whatever. 

It takes a day or two to get ready to head out shopping, but the dresser drawers get a good "going-through" which they need twice a year anyway. This is a good project for after you are done with major de-cluttering, and you certainly wouldn't want to abandon your routines to get this done. If necessary, set your timer and do 15 minutes at once, then quit. Or try an hour, do what you can, then come back again tomorrow. We save TONS of money on school clothes this way. Because we know what we have and what we need, impulse shopping is kept to a minimum. Happy back-to-schooling, all! Flybaby in Utah

2)  Our Elementary & Middle schools in Southern Maryland put out their school supply list with the child's last report card. A different one for each grade. This helps alot. Every mid-July around here, the school supplies are out and in full stock and on sale. Also, the area stores such as Wal-Mart get copies of these supply lists and they post them at the store in the school supply aisle in a laminate as well as provide copies at the front of the store. Which is great for those of us SHE's who lose the list. Maybe other SHE's could get this type of thing going in their area.

You wrote . . . "My local store has school supplies out! Oh no! How do I keep from buying every new gel pen color out there?"

I try to keep a pricebook on school supply sale/rollback prices. Elmer's glue $.25/Papermate pens $.44-$.50 pack of 10, Pocket Folders w/fasterners $.10, Box of Crayons $.50, etc. I try to stock up now for the whole school year and with the money I save buying now, I can send extras in for the teacher, who also seems to be spending out of her pocket by the time Spring comes around and parent's forget to ask their kids, "are you running out of anything, what do you need?"

With my pricebook and knowing that pens are $.05 each, it's hard for me to buy my older kids gel pens at more than a $1.00 a piece for everyday use and plus- they lose them so fast! LOL! They have a generous allowance. I buy the basics, if they want the latest and the greatest, they can buy it! Also, in middle school around here, basically, they are only "supposed" to be using blue or black ink and occassionally red for editing. So gel pens are extras that I'll buy a few for around the house. After their gone, the kids have to buy more if they want them. 

3)  I have 3 boys in two different schools this year and list upon list of school supplies that need to be purchased. My system works for me, but then again I am a list-a-holic. I make a single list of what needs to be purchased for school for the year, adding quantities of things such as crayons, colored pencils, etc. Meaning if I need 3, 24 packs of classic colored crayons, I pick up 3. 

Now, before I go shopping for the necessary items for their classroom experience, I check all the supplies that I have. When decluttering my desk last week, I found 3 packages of 24 pencils. (one thing I won't have to purchase as I have them already) I set up their backpacks and add their individual items to their backpacks when I get home, using the lists sent to me by the schools. Their backpacks are then placed AWAY, (in the closet) so that they don't get into their items. (3 boys aged 8, 6, 3 tend to want to get into their new items).

After their school supplies are purchased, I do go through their summer supplies and cull out that which was held onto from last school year. I end up tossing many of last years felt pens (dried over the summer from not being capped after use). 

The last thing I do for the two older children is create a list of what they need to have on a daily basis, (such as paper, pencils, crayons, pens, paint, brushes), and create a need list that they can check off as they need them. When they run out of pencils, they check it off the list and I add it to my shopping list through out the year. That way they always have what they need at school. My oldest has caught onto the ideal that when he starts to sharpen his last pencil, he needs to ask for more. The middle one is learning. 

4)  Our school sends home a supply list for the next year on the last day of school. Since I have 7 kids in school, I can usually bet that I will have one by the time its time to start shopping for school supplies.

I make my own list of supplies from that list... (so that I only have to look at one list instead of 7, since they send the list broken down by grade level.... ie... my list says 7 boxes of crayons... instead of looking at 7 lists to see if I need crayons..). I print it off, and carry it with me in my purse. At first I only purchase what I NEED when I see it on sale! one week before school starts we check over the list and go out to buy whatever is left on the list to buy.

I also make sure I keept the list that the school sent home on hand through the school year, so that I can refresh supplies as needed. Learning to Fly one day at a time in IN 

5)  I don't know if this will help anyone, but I've been going through my two school-age children's rooms to find "hidden" school supplies and consolidated them all. Then I went through their list of needed supplies, marked off what we had on hand, separated them and stored all that where the 20 month can't reach. Our next action was to check out all the Sunday flyers for the best bargains and we went out and bought only what we needed (plus extra poster board for those last minute projects). I have also been going through all of their clothes, 15 minutes at a time, to see what we need (and not just want). We are slowly moving bedtimes off of "summer vacation time" and back to school time. We are working on our morning and evening routines so that they will be second nature by the start of school. And of course, no tv in the morning when school starts! 

6)  Back to school time is a very big deal in my family. Not only do I have a large family (3 sons and a daughter still at home, 2 sons and a daughter already out of the nest) to get ready for the first day of school, but I am also a teacher, so I have to get myself ready as well! In the past I often found myself taking my kids shopping for clothes, only to discover later that we bought some "really cool" pants for the boy who already had enough pants and who really needed shirts, or other similar problems. Over the years I have come up with a pre-shopping routine that helps me buy the kids what they really need, not just what catches their eye.

I start with my oldest son. We bring out ALL his clothes to sort through together. First we weed out anything that is in poor condition (stained, torn up, whatever). These are not mendable items, these are worn out and go into the trash. Next we pull out anything that doesn't fit. These are set aside for the next oldest son to go through. (Anything he hates and won't wear go to Goodwill, unless it fits my youngest son and he wants it. I don't hold clothes over for them to grow into anymore. I always forget they are stashed away in boxes until they don't fit anyone anyway! LOL) Next I ask if there is anything left that he doesn't like or never wears. There almost always is something. Again, Goodwill or a younger brother. 

Finally we try on whatever is left to be sure that they still fit. EVERYTHING! I write down the sizes of the best fitting items and the number of each basic item (shirts, pants, etc.) he has for school. Then I go on to the next brother and repeat the process. (My little girl has no one to get clothes from, but the process is basically the same for her. A friend of hers from her old daycare gets her hand-me-downs.) By the time we get done, everyone has only decent clothes that they like and that fit, and I have a list of exactly what they have and their correct sizes. Then we shop to fill in the gaps. They also always get a couple complete new outfits to wear the first day of school. - Recent FlyBaby in Florida 

President Obama is trying to put you in panic mode.  

Feel familiar?  It happens every time he wants more of your money.  He takes to TV with threats and promises so you will want him to further mortgage the future of your kids and grandkids.

Obama and his brood repeat ad nauseum that the debt ceiling must be raised, but let me ask you a question: 

“Do you like how Obama’s spent your money so far?”

He made big promises.  We gave him what he asked for.  And we got:
* Unprecedented government growth, bureaucracy, and regulation
* Huge payback and empowerment of unions and other Obama cronies
* Massive unemployment
* Skyrocketing debt
* Many other ongoing nightmares  

Right now, every member of your family owes over $50,000 in national debt.  But that’s not enough.  Once a kindly Uncle Sam figure, the federal government now acts like an irresponsible, petulant teen.  Once the federal government knew its carefully defined and limited Constitutional role.  Now, using your credit card, politicians have discarded constitutional restraint.

In the name of security, citizens are assaulted daily at airports by government agents who don’t know the difference between a terrorist and a 95 year-old cancer patient from Florida.  Agents are paid to grope U.S. women and children, even babies, because women and children are terrorists in other parts of the world.

We're fighting wars around the world.  The Middle East is a major world crisis waiting to happen.  Cyber attacks threaten our national security and economy.  Our borders are almost completely unsecured - a daily invitation to hostile terrorists.  And we're spending resources to grope obviously harmless and helpless U.S. citizens?

The best health care system in the world is being dismantled, destroyed, and replaced by a trillion dollar socialist mess run by a massive new bureaucracy inside the IRS and HHS.  But who doesn’t love the IRS?  Who better to make our healthcare choices?

Politicians who have never held a real job outside of government have created vast regulatory agencies and thousands of pages of mandates to tell the people who create the jobs how to run their business.  If business people fail to comply with countless codes, they can be closed down, compelled to pay huge fines, and even forced to serve prison time.  

To top it all off, Obama's NLRB (National Labor Relations Board) bullies businesses and tries to prevent them from creating new jobs unless they are given to union workers.  But the NLRB isn't stopping there.  Obama owes the unions, and the unions own Obama.  Their power is increasing exponentially with his help.  Too bad for workers and their families.  

And speaking of closing down businesses, the EPA now stands for End Power Alternatives.  With their increased funding, they are creating and enforcing oppressive and unrealistic regulations that are strangling coal, petroleum, natural gas, and other promising U.S. power industries and options. 

But the Obama Administration is promoting the petroleum industry in Brazil with billions of U.S. dollars and rigs Obama forced to leave the gulf coast.  No wonder Brazil's unemployment rate has fallen to 6.2%  My friend from Brazil says that's because 6.2% of Brazilians would rather play than work.  Wish the President of the United States cared about creating real jobs here. 

Politicians can't understand why investors aren't investing in U.S. business any more.  Why do industries and entrepreneurs prefer to build businesses in China (and almost any other place) rather than in the U.S. now?  How could U.S. unemployment possibly be so high?

Your tax dollars have been busy alright!  And that's only the beginning.  Now Obama is demanding more.  It's expensive to "transform" the greatest country in the world!

Obama warns that we are teetering on the brink of financial ruin, and he’s right.  He just doesn’t want us to know he’s the one holding the steering wheel.  Maybe it's time for Congress to slow him down.  We sure shouldn't increase the limit on his credit card.  We will pay for it!

Sources in President Obama's Administration are privately reassuring bankers and downplaying chances of default, even if the debt ceiling isn’t raised.  

The federal government will finally have to prioritize expenditures, but the U.S. won’t default unless Obama makes that decision.  

Notwithstanding his scare tactics, Obama will be the one to choose if the U.S. defaults on its obligations or not. 

In his response to President Obama’s televised address to the nation Monday night, House Speaker John Boehner stuck to his guns, giving no indication he would be willing to compromise with the President on a debt deal.

During his address, Boehner asserted that when government grows to the point where it encroaches on people’s lives, people themselves are diminished.  Boehner stated, “You know, I’ve always believed, the bigger government, the smaller the people.  And right now, we have a government so big and so expensive it’s sapping the drive of our people and keeping our economy from running at full capacity.”

Boehner, who said he ran a small business in Ohio before serving in Congress, was “amazed at how different” Washington DC operated than “every business in America.”

“Where most American business make the hard choices to pay their bills and live within their means, in Washington more spending and more debt is business as usual,” opened Boehner.

“I’ve got news for Washington – those days are over,” he warned.

According to the Speaker,  Obama came to Congress in January requesting “business as usual,”  which, to Boehner, meant “yet another routine increase in the national debt limit.”

“Here was the president, asking for the largest debt increase in American history, on the heels of the largest spending binge in American history,” Boehner continued.

“Here’s what we got for that spending binge: a massive health care bill that most Americans never asked for.  A ‘stimulus’ bill that was more effective in producing material for late-night comedians than it was in producing jobs.  And a national debt that has gotten so out of hand it has sparked a crisis without precedent in my lifetime or yours,” the Speaker blasted.

One commentator called this a "purely partisan campaign speech."  What do you think?

The federal debt has skyrocketed to $50,000 per person in the United States.  That is about $150,000 per U.S. wage earner.  We have reached the point where the debt is jeopardizing necessary job growth.  

In this July 11, 2011 podcast Senator Mike Lee suggests serious medicine for our sick economy.
 

All anybody in Washington can talk about these days is the debt limit or debt ceiling -- the total amount of money the federal government is authorized to borrow at any given time. 

After a decade in which spending increased by more than 60 percent in inflation-adjusted dollars and the debt limit was raised no fewer than 10 times, the government is about to max out its $14.3 trillion credit line, leading to fears that Washington is going to default on its bonds, stop cutting Social Security checks, and destroy the economy more than it already has.

But the current debate over the debt ceiling is full of malarkey for at least three reasons.

1)  August 2 is a phony deadline. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner has pushed back the drop-dead date when the U.S. finally reaches its limit a bunch of times already: March 31, April 15, May 31 were all cited as deadlines before August 2 was inked in as Armageddon. But this time, he means it, man, really.

2)  Reaching the debt limit is not the same as defaulting on our debt -- which would indeed be catastrophic.

Think about it: You can max out your credit cards but as long as you keep paying the minimum amount due each month, your creditors don't go crazy. Interest on the debt is a small fraction of total outlays and the government has a series of tools -- from using cash on hand to selling assets to scrimping on nonessential payments -- to make sure interest payments are made and seniors aren't put on an all cat-food diet.

3)  Legislating-by-Panic is no way to run a country. The reason we're in this mess is because government can't stop spending. And the government can't even pass a budget on a year's notice. But we're expecting them to come up with a good plan for the country's borrowing in a couple of weeks? Trying to force through an expansion of the country's credit line by promising cuts in spending down the road is exactly why we're in this situation to begin with.

It makes far more sense to do something like sell some TARP assets -- the government is sitting on $320 billion in outstanding direct loans and equities investments -- to cover interest payments through the end of the fiscal year then force Congress and the president to come up with a budget that cuts spending -- and borrowing -- for real, next year, not is some distant future.

For more information, check out Nick Gillespie's 5 Uncomfortable Facts About the Wonderful, Horrible Debt-Limit Debate:http://reason.com/archives/2011/07/08/five-uncomfortable-facts-about

And Mercatus Center's Jason J. Fichtner & Veronique de Rugy's The Debt Ceiling: What is at Stake:http://mercatus.org/sites/default/files/publication/Debt%20Ceilling.deRugy.Fi...

I sought for the greatness and genius of America in her commodious harbors and in her ample rivers, and it was not there.

I sought for the greatness and genius of America in her fertile
fields and boundless forests, and it was not there.

I sought for the greatness and genius of America in her rich mines and her vast world commerce, and it was not there.

I sought for the greatness and genius of America in her public
school system and her institutions of learning, and it was not there.

I sought for the genius and greatness of America in her democratic congress and her matchless constitution, and it was not there.

Not until I went into the churches of America and heard her pulpits flame with righteousness did I understand the secret of her genius and power.

America is great because America is good, and if America ever ceases to be good, America will cease to be great.        

                                                                   ~ Alexis de Tocqueville

What can we do individually, and as a family, to help restore America's greatness?