By Jason Alderman On the fun-o-meter, I’d probably rank back-to-school shopping right above getting a flu shot and preparing income taxes. Never mind the hassle of figuring out what our kids need for the coming school year and dragging them to the mall, it’s just so expensive year after year.   For example, our son [...]

By Gail Cunningham For incoming freshmen college often means one thing: freedom. That freedom can come in the form of no curfew, no set study time, or no one looking over your shoulder as you spend money. Such freedoms can be part of a positive growth experience, or create negative situations which take years to recover [...]

By Jana Castanon It seems that the summer just started and here you are getting ready to send your kiddos back to school. The stores have cleverly arranged their displays to entice your children to shop to their hearts’ content while the advertisers are making sure that they lure your children towards what are probably the [...]

By Sara Gilbert Temperatures are still high and summer activities are still the norm.  Is it possible that the kids will be back in school before we know it? The ads and inserts in the paper are usually my first reminders that  back to school shopping and fall are just around the corner. This can be an [...]

 By Jana Castanon – NEW BLOGGER! It seems that the summer just started and here you are getting ready to send your kiddos back to school.  The stores have cleverly arranged their displays to entice your children to shop to their hearts’ content while the advertisers are making sure that they lure your children towards [...]

Back-to-school time can be bittersweet for parents and kids alike. For kids it means an end to the care-free days of summer. And for parents it means an expensive annual tradition. But back-to-school shopping doesn’t have to break the bank. By planning ahead, there are plenty of ways to be a smart shopper and save. [...]

By Jason Alderman Senior Director, Visa Inc. The days when you could send your kids off to the first day of school with a lunchbox and a hug are long gone. Today’s back-to-school preparations likely include filing out piles of pre-enrollment paperwork, lining up carpools and, of course, the dreaded shopping excursions for clothes and [...]