Prepackaged school supplies VS paying separately????

I just wanted to share an experiment my two friends did on this subject. They both have kids in the same grade (Elementary 3rd grade), and they both attend the same school so they each had the exact same school supply list for what they needed. So what they did was one of them paid for all of the listed supplies individually at Walmart, and what they couldn't find from Walmart they bought from Target. The other friend simply purchased the prepackaged school supply list from the school their kids will be attending. The end result??? The friend who paid for all the items separately by going down the school supply list and spending over an hour searching and scanning up and down the isle and through the crowds of other moms trying to dig through all the mess only ended up saving a mere $3 when it was all said and done. But here's the thing this may not be the case for every grade level and school, but for the elementary age grades it was pretty much a very similar lists that the stores had out for the parents to shop off of. Another thing to keep in mind is that a lot of stores like Walgreens and some Targets will sale the prepackaged school supplies but they were more expensive than going to the school and buying it there. I'm not sure about your Walmart but ours where we live said they aren't making prepackaged supplies any longer. When we went to Walgreens they had a lot but started at $39 all the way up to $54, but they were out of the Kindergarten pack which is what I needed. It turns out it's a good thing they were out because I called Hannah's elementary school and they said they sale them as well but were almost out. They only had about 4 more left yesterday when I went and they only carged $33, no tax, even though our tax free weekend didn't start until just today. I had no idea the schools even sold them....duh at me!! So anywho just though I'd give everyone a heads up in case you are panicing the way I was about everything (since Hannah's school starts on Tuesday). If you're pressed for time than just call your childs school to see if they still have some available to purchase and you might actually be saving a few bucks. I never would have even believed this if my two friends didn't test this out, but I wanted to share this with all you mom because if you're like me I felt for sure the prepackaged packs were going to be too expensive but if I'm only paying an average of $3 more and beating the mad crowds and messy isles it's worth it to me. And we bought ours yesterday and it is such a relief to know Hannah has everything she needs and at a cheaper price by going through the school than Walgreens, which is what I was about to do until I learned they ran out of her grade. Again, I'm not saying this will be the case for all States, schools, or grade levels, but for my friends who did this 'test' it proved to be worth it (for me at least) to just buy prepackaged from the schools if your school sales them. However, if you have left over supplies from last year than you may be able to reuse a lot of supplies and not need to buy the whole pacakage after all, which would save you money all the more. . Also, just thought I'd also let everyone know that if you can't find either the prepackaged anywhere but you want to go that route, here is a site called 'School Pack' . You email them your entire school supply list and they send you a free quote on what the cost would be. I've never tried them but I'm going to send my list (even though I already have our supplies) just to see how they compare. I don't have a 'good' feeling they'd be any cheaper, but actually more pricey but you never know....they state that their 'generic' supply kit for Kindergarten is $15.84, which is actually $7 cheaper than what I paid through the school. I'll let you know what they quote me when I hear back from them. :D ~Cecilia So what's your experience in this? Have you saved more going one way or the other and if so by how much and was it worth it for you?