Help the schools fundraisers are killing me .......

I hear that a lot from people !! And although we realize the reasoning behind it - it is for the kids and the schools - it still can hit a budget badly - especially if your children are spread out in ages and are in different schools.


I know many say just don't do them at all and that's OK if that's how they feel... but i at least want to try to do what i can, because my child, in the end , is getting something from it all .

My children go to private catholic schools - ie we pay a good amount of our income to tuition .
A choice we made 14 years ago when it was a 100 a month expense for our oldest child. Now 4 more children later we still stick by our choice education wise - but the cost has made a major leap !! And one of the main reasons for our frugal doings is to afford this choice.

Our one school has many fundraisers - at the beginning of the year they state that they don't expect you to do them all they do many different ones so people can do what they feel works for them. Of course tell that to the second grader coming home with the catalogs and the prizes he can win . Poor child would never stand a chance anyway as neither my dh or i have jobs we are allowed to sell at -my mom is an unemployed senior caring for my 94 yo grandmother - and my dh's parents are seniors his dad is still working in real estate ( which isn't doing well right now ) and have 17 grandchildren so cant buy from them all and we have made an agreement with his 7 siblings that we just don't sell to each other- otherwise we may as well hand a 20$ bill around the table at family dinners !!

So we do what we can which usually buying overpriced things is not a part of .
And the kids know it and are used to it so basically are OK with not having a chance at some prize which usually goes to the kid whose dad owns a company ad everyone buys off the bosses kid to look good to the boss !!

Some are hard to get away from .
Our HS has a yearly ad campaign for the play- its 50$ a child -and basically mandatory we had 2 kids in HS this year - we used dh's business card which will be paid for by his boss and his dads which we paid to put in .

This month i have 3 things to come up with ,
My oldest dd is participating in the school fashion show and all participants need to donate a basket for auction with a worth of 75$+++

For the younger two childrens school they are asking for 50$ Donations in items GC or cash and your kids get 3 dress down days . I understand the rationale behind it to get people to do it- but i hate the fact that a parents inability to find 50$ to buy something or inability to find a store etc that can afford to donate 50$ in this economy reflects badly on the child as they will be left out .
( there are many parents complaining about this so we are hoping to get it changed back to when they just asked for donations and if got enough everyone got a dress down day )

And then there's an AD campaign for my younger 2 kids school play - that's another 25$ .And another dress down day .
SO because i don't want the kids left out i am finding ways to do this as frugally as i can ,

# 1 - play ad campaign for 25$ - will use dhs business card - if not reimbursed can be a tax deduction for this year .

#2 50$ gift basket - i got a 25.88 gift basket at Kohls for ~ 7.99+ 15% more off that is a pretty wire beaded basket filled with bath / body items .- I have a 25$ GC to a nail place i was given as a gift but cannot use ( cannot be around those odors etc and i am allergic to a main ingredient in nail polish ) so out of pocket expense.. 6.79

#3 High school gift basket for fashion show- 75$ value

i decided on wall decor from clearance area at Kohls because it was nicely made - was in styles that would go with many different types of home decor- you cant be allergic to it - and is also something you can use as a nice housewarming / birthday - etc gift if the basket winner didn't want them all for themselves .

1-12x 18" collage pix frame ( black frame) with mat /says Live Laugh Love and will hold 5 separate 4x6 pictures ( retail value $ 29.99)
was 8.99 + extra 15% off so 7.64

1- 8.5-X10.5 pix frame ( black ) with mat that says Friends - holds a 7x5" pix ( RV - 19.99) 4.99 + extra 15% off = 4.24

1-7.5 x7.5 pix frame ( glass and silver ) - says Grand Kids - Laugh -Smiles on it - for table top or wall display - holds a 4x6 pix (RV- 14.99) - 4.99 + extra 15% off =4.24

1- black framed wall decor 5.5" x 11" " Pressed Flower Sentiment Sign " is a frame with mat and then double glass on top for pressing 4 flowers in between the words Dance- Love- Sing and Live on it - ( RV - 21.99) 3.99 + extra 15% off =3.39
total retail = 86. 96

total spent = 19.51
I contributed what was expected to the school without breaking my wallet .