Deal Or No Deal?

Hey Science Friends,

Let's talk about notebooking. Over the past several years I have really enjoyed notebooking in Kindergarten. This time of year I am always wondering what kind of notebook I am going to try for the coming year. I have tried making  cute thematic notebooks for each child for each different topic for Science. I will admit, I started thinking there has to be a better way. I have used spirals and I have used composition books. I have even just stapled paper together. I think out of everything I have tried I liked the spirals the most because I did not have to make anything, they lasted a year and it was the option that gave the most room for recording for children.

Last year I was able to get composition books for an extreme deal. I realize things have changed and I won't be able to get class sets of extreme deals like I did last year. I was able to get these composition books for 10 cents each. This was not my first choice for notebooking but with a jazzy label and some ribbon and I have to tell you they were cute. My class loved their Science Notebooks. I loved having something already made and prepared to take to school and the fact that we used it all year. But what I didn't like was the size. For the first time I noticed some very interesting writing that spanned the entire page or pages because of the lack of space. I struggled with this for a year. So now I am thinking of the coming year...

Several people have asked me if I thought the 17 cent spirals were a good deal at WalMart. People want to know if it is the best deal around. It made me think of last summer. I was able to get an extreme deal of spirals for 10 cents each. I was able to get a class set of 25. But I also had to fight the crowds, check out multiple times, beg for enough of the right color and make sure I had another five dollar additional purchase in order to get the deal. Granted, the five dollars I spent in additional merchandise I put to good use. I was happy to do it to get 10 cent spirals for Math Notebooks. Which brings me back around to the 17 cent spirals at WalMart. I can go in and get the colors that I want and there is no limit. So I could get writing, take home, science and math notebooks in one stop, in the colors I want, no reward card, no special permissions from the manager, no additional purchase and with no hassle.

So last year I paid 10 cents each for 25 spirals plus an additional $5.00. My spirals cost me $7.50 each set. If I decide to get mine this year at WalMart I am going to pay 17 cents for how ever many spirals I want. Let's say I pay 17 cents for 25 spirals and I have no additional items I am required to purchase. My spirals cost me $4.02. Let's compare each set... at 17 cents it is $4.02 for 25 and at 10 cents it is $2.50 which is a difference of $1.52. Kind of makes me wonder if the extreme deals were even worth it with all the hoops you had to go through to get it. And I had to remind myself that I have not seen a spiral advertised yet for 10 cents and there is no guarantee that this type of deal will even exist. So, it is something to think about. Is a 17 cent spiral a deal or no deal?

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