Adults: Do you still buy school supplies for yourself even if you don't have kids?

Well, who can say no to that awesome Trapper Keeper?

Yes. I buy crayons with the sharpener in the back, drawing paper, pencils (regular and coloured) and markers. Ooh, I need rubber cement and poster board, thanks for the reminder!

My mom does =)
I don’t find it weird. I think at least she buys it because it really takes her back. Is it that way for you, @Marina?

I do, but then again, I am 37 and taking college classes.

Not so much just back to school supplies, but I collect pens, pencil, journals and all other kind of fine stationery.. there’s a lot of people that do too

I always buy a mess of those 15 cent spiral notebooks and new pens when it’s school supply time. My kids love buying school supplies. They keep looking at backpacks every time we go to the store.

I love buying new notebooks, folders and pencils. I’m in school though, so this is frequent for me :)

One of my favorite types of stores is the office supply store. I buy notebooks, a stash of my favorite pens, and cool pencils. I have a set of “my” markers, colored pencils, etc that are not for the children. They can use them, but must ask permission first!

I don’t buy ‘school supplies’ per se, but there’s nothing I like better than to go into Office Max & look around to see what they have that I just can’t live without. Pens especially. The ones I buy, I can’t find them in the store, so I order them from OM online by the box. I’d rather go into a store like that than to a clothing store. I just love office stuff.

@Marina: This is my fall ritual as well! I have no children, but I still do this for myself. As a child, going to Staples/Office Max the week before school started was one of my favorite activities with my mom. I picked out all of my matching perfect notebooks and such. I refuse to give up this activity.

There is something magical about brand new notebooks, pencils and pens. I have a pen-losing problem so I can justify buying all those new BICs when they go on sale wicked cheap in august haha.

Though I’m still in school, fall school supply shopping is one of my all-time favorite things to do, so I doubt I’ll completely give it up when I’m out of school. I don’t find it weird to do this at all. As @girlofscience said, I just love picking out matching folders, notebooks, binders, pens, etc. for the year. I have a weird obsession about needing all of it, and I mean all of it to match. I would go crazy if I couldn’t find matching supplies that I liked…sad, but true. OCD is fun, huh?

I enjoy the value of a high quality and familiar pen in my hands. I have a variety of pens and notebooks for whatever occasion suits them. I generally do not go out once a year to buy pristine items as I prefer to save my money whenever possible, but I do occasionally add or replace items as I need them.

I had to hold back strongly a few weeks ago, at a local market there was a glass bead maker who crafted these gorgeous beaded pens, one pen just happened to be my favorite colors ever but I didn’t feel like spending $50 at that moment.

I bought myself a set of Crayola crayons a few years ago, and whenever I get the hankering to use them they’re just right there waiting for me, it’s wonderful!

Oh yes!!! Got to have a couple new note pads, ruler, sharpies of every color, oh! And I love the tiny staplers only if they have the tiny staples. As for pens, I write with a Mont Blanc for every day use, but it’s a must have for new red ultra fine pens!

No, but I immediately thought of Elmer’s Glue while reading your question. That one item took me back to grade school.

Now I can smell Elmer’s Glue as if it’s sitting right beside me. :)

@augustlan A girl in my class ate it like it was pancake syrup!

@chyna I knew some glue eaters, too! I never understood that…

My mom still does and she’s 74. She always has a yellow notepad at the kitchen table with a pencil so she can write everything down. According to my mom she has CRS (can’t remember shit). She also has colored pencils, crayons, paint and construction paper on hand at all times.

My children are still in school with the youngest entering kindergarten. She’s so excited and has been talking about getting school supplies for three weeks now. Every time we shop she wants to see the school supply section or look at backpacks. I really love this time of year! I’ll definitely buy myself a new notepad and good pens.

I’m obsessive about the condition of the notebooks, too. Sometimes I have to go through more than 25 of them to find one that doesn’t have slanted lines on the pages, messed-up margins, or minor dents in the cover.

@girlofscience I have always been that way too. I will dig to the bottom of the pile if I need to.

@girlofscience I hate it when the spiral gets bent and it won’t open good. Drives me nuts!

My favorite are the non-spiral ones. Bound is better. And college ruled is a must.

Thanks, everyone. This is so much better than having to confess my habit in a 12-Step group.

@sccrowell Love tiny staplers! Also tiny paper clips.

Who remembers Lisa Frank?

@girlofscience I had tons of Lisa Frank stuff! I loved it. I’ve seen it in the last few years, but I don’t know if I’ve seen anything this year yet. I still like it.

Haha, when I was younger, my mom and I picked out one theme per subject (like “Rory and the Penguins”). I got matching notebooks and folders in each them for that subject! And we tried to pick themes that were most appropriate for the subject.

A boy I went to grade school with ate school paste. Right out of the jar. Yish!

@jbfletcherfan I just never understood that. I actually tried it way back then, but didn’t like it as I recall.

@chyna For sure. It wouldn’t be MY idea of a snack!

I’m also a sucker for a hole puncher. I was room mother for my sons when they were in grade school and I loved preparing the crafts for parties. I remember sitting for hours with a hole puncher and I actually enjoyed it!

I’m looking forward to doing it again with my daughter.

We recently got a fancy label maker at work. Boy, I’m having fun with that thing!

Yes but I’m a teacher and I get a $250 return on my income tax for school supplies.

Yeah, school supplies do it for me, too. Also, be on the lookout—Staples and some other companies take donations of school supplies and give them to disadvantaged youth. It is a nice way to satisfy your urge to buy school supplies, while doing something good for others.

Everyone loves having school/office supplies. How do I know?

Any film/TV production I worked on was utterly looted at the end of a shoot or season for any and all supplies as people at all levels could manage to haul off. Post-Its. Highlighters. Reams of paper. Pens, pencils, notebooks, tapes (scotch, masking, gaffer, duck, audio), sharpeners, staplers, hole punches, those heavy brass brads used to bind scripts, rulers, Sharpies, batteries, blank floppy discs, CDs and DVDs, paper and binder clips of all kinds, rubber bands, corkboards, clipboards, dry erase boards. It was a spree, a veritable spree. The production could write all that off, you see.

Except Disney. Disney doesn’t do that. I was a PA on a Disney movie some years ago and at the end of the shoot, my assignment was to account for all office supplies bought by Production. I was snatching pencils out of peoples’ hands on the last office day. All available leftover supplies had to go back to Disney in LA, including an enclosed purchase list and copies of the purchase orders in binders. A FedEx truck on a special appointment had to pick up 150+ boxes. That had to have been some policy straight from the days of Walt himself.

“Do I send back this pencil nub?” “Yeah, I think you’d better.” “But… it’s a pencil nub.” “I know. Put it in the box.”

I love office supply stores. They are jam-packed full of potential.

I buy them every now and then but mostly for my husband’s needs like engineering work he brings home, for preparing time sheets (his team of labor workers), drafting, a few invoice reconciliations, etc. I’m just happy having a pretty journal and a few colored pens I can write on/with anytime I feel like it…and a good sign pen to keep in my bag (a must, in case I need to fill out or sign something when not at home). For small stuff, I just rely on our office suplies cabinet at work. =P

@Darwin Yes, that is a big part of the thrill.

It depends how you define “School supplies”. Because some things under that category are also under the category of “Office supplies”, which people without children occasionally use :)

I consider the 64-pack of crayons, with the built-in sharpener, to be office supplies.

It does when the color printer is on the fritz.

Here is a link for more info about the school supplies drive that Staples is running through Sept. 19, 2009. http://www.dosomething.org/dosomething101/home
The fun of school supply shopping + the knowledge that you are doing something good for disadvantaged youth!