Free printable
Broke Dads Club · brokedadsclub.com
School supply triage sheet
Three columns for the school list. Must, reuse, skip. Write the number before you enter the store.
Full write-up: the school supply list that quietly wrecks August. Print it, or save it as a PDF from your browser.
Before the store
Hard number
Kid / grade
Teacher
Write the number on your phone too. Inventory the backpack and junk drawer for fifteen minutes before you buy a single folder.
Triage the list
Copy items from the school PDF into one column. Must: the teacher will notice. Reuse: last year still works. Skip: theater, optional donations dressed as requirements, the third set of markers.
Must
Kid cannot function without it
Reuse
Scissors, backpack, headphones
Skip / delay
Until a teacher actually asks
Where to buy
- What you already have at home
- Dollar aisle / store brand for consumables
- One big-box run with the hard number already written
- Ask the teacher, quietly, if generic is fine
Scripts
- To your kid: “We're buying the list, not the whole aisle.”
- To another parent: “We're keeping it lean this year.”
- To yourself: “This is a season. It is not a referendum on my love.”