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Today Kaiden spent his pocket money on the Scholastic book fair!

20/5/2014

28 Comments

 
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Today our local school had a Scholastic book fair and needless to say 5 of the children from the school were excited to see what they could get.

Me on the other hand thought a little dread in my head knowing the price of the books .

I took them all some money , gave them a couple of pounds each and they all scurried of to discover what they could buy.

There were a few multipacks which I tried to entice them into purchasing , knowing myself it was a bargain and if they did not grab them before the other parents that were huddling around the shelves shushing the kids as they rummaged through them like it was a buy one get one free at the Dior shop ,then they would be looking at £6 upwards for any other book on the shelves.

Unfortunately ,,,,,,,

Leon took his money and squandered it on sweets and nothing else . It is quite typical of Leon, I am sure he has attatchment issues with food and when ever he has the opportunity to put something in his mouth , it is quite obvious he will spend every penny he has to do so. 
When he was all spent up ,he ran of to tell his class friends empty handed and mouth full of his adventures at the school hall and carried on with his day as if it had never happened.
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 Libby pushed her way through to the stationary section where she picked out a pink pencil and notebook . I am not completely moaning about it but I was hoping she would pick up a book knowing she would regret it when she wasted it on something she will more than likely lose in the end anyway like her others before. 
As her other siblings searched through the books , she stood waiting for me to hand more money over, but being under control and learning her that she can not have everything she wants (as she expects each event ), I tell her to go to her activities and explain she had her choice and has spent her money already.
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Drew spent the longest time choosing, she is the type of girl who wants to pick something that looks pretty or you get something free with it. 
She pondered at diaries with the locks and keys but her budget did not stretch that far and anyway someone had already taken the lock and key so the book was left useless to her idea of it being a diary. 
She picked herself a me to you sticker fun book which I know will end up all over her bed tonight and more than likely stuck all over the bedroom walls and what not.
Awhole £3.99 on 10 pages of absolute nothing but a few stickers down the drain. 
Well I do suppose it is a half hour fun for her. Drew is happy.
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My eldest daughter has to be the most fussiest. Being 9 coming 10 soon , she knows what she wants and is addament till she gets it . Oh I was the worst mother ever not allowing her to pick a book that was £8 , knowing she had a £6 budget only . 
She decided on getting the RSPCA Pet babies sticker book and a book mark!
All her budget gone and she still moans for more for a hotdog .
Bearing in mind it ws 11am and dinner was going to be served in an hour , I stirnly said 'no'!

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My last hope on enticing the children not to waste their money and buy a book they can actually read was all up to little Kaiden . 
Aged 4 and being a superhero fanatic, I knew he would go straight for the Spiderman book that had some free glow in the dark spiders he could scare his dad with tonight when in bed .
It was an activity book but it was not only a couple pages and actually quite full of great activities which me and Kaiden enjoyed this afternoon doing.
Being £3.99, it seemed quite reasonable considering all his superhero marvel items/games/outfits and toys cost so much more  .

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 I found myself holding only £4 left in change out of the £25 I had in my pocket at the beginning and as I walked out Kaiden found something I had not seen earlier that morning when looking with the little ones.

It was a multibuy for the smaller children, 3 books for only £2.99

Bargain!

Had to grab it, this time I felt like the mum in Dior store grabbing the last size 10 top designer shirt of the rails at 90% discount but this time it was for the boys , it was three books for the price of 1.

SCORE!
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Finally all that moaning about the price of the books on the shelves and there was a breakthrough to actually grabbing a bargain .
 My bargain of the day .
Three more books and there was a reading book in there , not an activity book, not a colouring book, no diary but an actual story to read to the boys.

Farmer Joe and the Music Show had made my morning at the school all worth while.

I feel myself inside doing a little jiggle dance like he is on the illustration front cover.
This book alone is actually £5.99 so already I had made a saving.

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Of course there had to be more activity books inside the pack but that not does not bother me in the slightest now.
In fact I actually love that this pack had a minibeast activity book. 
The two smaller boys Leon and Kaiden have spent the past month or so searching for them in the garden and I know they will love this.

This book would have cost £3.99 but I got this free and in fact for the three books in this pack I actually only payed for the colouring book which is marked up as £2.99 .
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The colouring book was the last item in the bundle and as my children are constantly doodling and at the table with books and colours it was never going to go to waste.
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So overall , after moaning about the cost of the book fair today , I actually got a bargain and came home with 6 books, Libby got some stationary and Leon got his sweets.

I spend a fortune on the school every week. 
School dinners , many school trips , fundraising and lately a £300 two day holiday for the oldest daughter that I find ridiculously costly for the amount of time she is actually there.
I am forever replacing never ending uniforms that spontaniously combust into thin air every week at PE lessons and of course the every so often book fairs that seem to be appearing more than once a year which is what I am used to but I suppose having all these lovelies being happy is worth it in the end.

So what I want to know is,,,,,,,,,,

when is the next one? 

Have you had a book fair at the school or experienced the costly aftermath of them, or did you grab a bargain like I did today? .
28 Comments
ninjacat link
20/5/2014 09:59:50 am

I work in a school and yes fairs at madcap

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lisa prince link
21/5/2014 01:31:13 am

It was soo hectic, I think more parents turned up for the book fair than the childrens concerts lol x

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You Baby Me Mummy link
20/5/2014 10:32:13 am

I have never been to one, but we get lots of our books from local NCT sales x

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Louise link
20/5/2014 11:11:03 am

I <i>always</i> dread book fairs as Stacey can never decide on just one book and wants about 10! Lol

Louise x

<a href="http://www.confessionsofasecretshopper.com">Confessions of a Secret Shopper</a>

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lisa prince link
21/5/2014 01:34:20 am

it was meant to be on for only one hour and i spent 1 and half hours there at three shelves looking at them 20 times over lol x

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Georgie Colloff link
20/5/2014 11:16:11 am

This is such a wonderful post, and glad you came away feeling great about your bargain find. I was definitely a diary and sticker hunting child and I can just about remember my top bunk being covered in animal and insect stickers.

Your children are gorgeous by the way! But you already know that haha! :)

Georgie xx

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lisa prince link
21/5/2014 01:36:46 am

I was a diary person too, they always have a lovely selection but being a small school of only just over 100 pupils there was not as many stalls as there has been in other schools x

Aw thankyou, they may look lovely but they are deceiveing at times haha x

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Jenny link
20/5/2014 01:10:05 pm

We also spend lots of money at school, it never seems to end!

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lisa prince link
21/5/2014 01:39:07 am

I know , it seems to become more expensive every term, it changes in september , my littlest one kaiden starts full days , supposadly now all nursery and year ones will receive free school dinners compulsary so that will be some help but we still have to pay for others and the trips are like every 3 a week with the other events they hold x

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Polly Davies link
20/5/2014 01:46:20 pm

love the farmer joe book - we've had it out of the library before!

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lisa prince link
21/5/2014 01:42:18 am

This is one of the books Ii have not yet seen till now, but we had a read of it last night and its quite lovely x

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Louise Edwards link
20/5/2014 02:22:50 pm

wow that is a great buy at the end. Good job school book fairs are only once a year they always cost us a fortune too x

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Pinkoddy link
20/5/2014 03:14:23 pm

we love books here and sticker books are a firm favourite.

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Charlotte link
20/5/2014 05:31:36 pm

I hate book fairs! Would much rather get books from charity shops, or even the book people! I can't imagine how much things must add up when you have more children, it's bad enough with two!

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lisa prince link
21/5/2014 01:44:29 am

i have to agree with you, I do not usually go and some freinds purposly make sure they dont atttend but Ii did have some spare cash this time and it was not too bad although I know I could buy the same books at a cheaper rate elsewhere, which is usually what we do, if they dont go then we give them money to pick one up from the book shop in town x

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Gemma Button link
21/5/2014 03:04:34 am

I have noticed with friends that have had children that schools are asking a lot more money of parents these days, it was never like that when I was in school, where do they expect it to come from all the time, £300 for 2 days, where are they taking them, I'd want it to be somewhere pretty cool for that amount, x

Gem

<i><b><a href="http://www.buttonsblog.co.uk/">ButtonsBlog</a></b></i>

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lisa prince link
21/5/2014 03:33:28 am

it is, she is going to robinwood , its an activity trip, canoeing, rock climbing , all outdoor and lots of fun , my other son is going to france and germany in one tip and we are paying the same price so i dont see how they are charging or why for that matter soo much x

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Sara-Jayne link
21/5/2014 04:29:12 am

Glad you got a bargain... I teach and I dread the book fairs. So many little ones get upset over what they can and cannot have and it's so horrible. Saying that, a few really love them and are delighted. Swings and roundabouts I suppose!

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Sonya Cisco link
21/5/2014 10:05:15 am

I seem to be constantly emptying my purse for some school activity or another, and I only have 3 to pay for! I do love a book fair though, especially if there is a bargain to be had!

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Nayna Kanabar link
21/5/2014 01:13:29 pm

When my girls were younger the class parents used to organise a monthy book swap.You took a book or books you had finished with and swapped them for different ones.This way the books were moving around from child to child and everyone got to read new books without paying a penny.

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Kizzy link
21/5/2014 10:52:56 pm

Mine love book fairs and we always end up spending a fortune although recently ours have all been half price!

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Helen Dickinson link
22/5/2014 05:09:50 am

Max isn't at school yet but I welcome the book fairs. I find it important children read and I although the price may be a little higher than some book shops, children are taking away some sort of reading experience. Whether its a magazine, sticker book or reading book, children will be reading it. Reading is a key skill in life.

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Kirsty Hijacked By Twins link
22/5/2014 08:21:06 am

Book fairs can be so expensive so well done on your bargain :-) x

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Fritha Strickland link
22/5/2014 12:09:46 pm

we've not experienced this yet but love the look of these books! x

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Adele @ Circus Queen link
22/5/2014 01:35:52 pm

Wow, what a book shopping epic! I love how all your kids show different personality traits through their purchase choices. We've not reached the stage of book fairs yet but if I'm ever at anything with an Usborne stall, I practically go weak in the knees!

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Shell Louise link
23/5/2014 01:55:05 pm

They sound like mine at the book fair. It takes ages to choose something then it's never the sensible choice I would have liked them to have!

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Healthier Mummy link
23/5/2014 03:24:33 pm

Those sticker books look fab. Love the way you bagged a bargain right at the end of the trip.

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Carolynne @ Mummy Endeavours link
24/5/2014 05:09:16 am

Aww we had a book fair at school last week and I never went!! Feeling a bit guilty now, just fed up of getting books that get left in the bookcase! We have loads anyway but it may have been nice for the kids to pick one each. Def next time! Hehe your boys with the sweets reminds me of my teenager who loves food too :)

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