Earlier in the week I posted that I almost caved and ordered the pre-packaged school supply kits for 1, 2, 4, 7 and 8th grades. These didn't include Bibles, dictionaries, flash drives or Chlorax wipes. The cost for the "basic essentials" was going to be $160.
I opted out and decided to make multiple trips to various stores to take advantage of the loss leader items. In my shopping trips I also purchased two new lunch boxes and contributed $12.38 towards my daughter's backpack purchase (clearly a want, not a need). I spent a whopping: $88.86.
My savings was almost 50% - definitely worth my time and energy.
Lesson: Convience will sometimes cost double the original price. 
In light of DH's possible unemployment, I've got a big smile right now.
Experiment results are in.
August 21st, 2011 at 11:00 pm
August 21st, 2011 at 11:05 pm 1313967928
August 22nd, 2011 at 12:01 am 1313971272
August 22nd, 2011 at 03:01 am 1313982093
August 22nd, 2011 at 03:15 am 1313982927
August 22nd, 2011 at 11:09 pm 1314054544