IDAHO FALLS - We all dread the phrase back to school. Whether you're the parent or the child, neither one of you want to hear it.

For parents the first thing that comes to mind is expenses and the task of shopping.
My goal is to make it easier on you and your families pocket book.

The agonizing days of back to school shopping end here. I have tips that will save you and one expert mom who has your best interests in mind.

I think if you budget your money goes a lot further

Meet the Scrogums. They have a family of four and back to school shopping is no cake walk.

I like to start early because I don't like to buy it all at once and sales. You can find sales. But don't take all four kids."

We start with elementary school shopping. Dominic is 9 and Chance is 7. They have a long list of must buys from clothes, to shoes, to school supplies.

(Tip #1) First we started out by taking an inventory, making a list and checking it twice.

(Tip #2) Next, we set a budget. $250 for both kids.

Then we were off to shop.

We went to Walmart, Kohl's and Target. All had great deals. But Remember it's not where you shop, it's what you find.

Here's what we found:

These pair of jeans from Kohls...only $12
matched with This t shirt from Walmart only $7
then these tennis shoes from Kohls for $27
and the big discount of the day this polo for $3 bucks from Walmart.

and when buying pants here's a new tip

(tip #3) Jennifer McGraw: "A good thing to look out for is this stretchy elastic waste band that allows the pants to grow with your child."

Then what to look for when buying socks

(Tip #4) Tricia Scrogum: "Socks wear out soon and your going to be replacing them anyways, so I go for the cheaper ones."

In total we bought them each five shirts paired with five pairs a pants, socks and underwear for a grand total of $206.

(Tip #5) Onto School supplies is the easy part. Go to the dollar store, where every things a dollar

you can get pens, pencils, markers, glue paper and rulers and only spend twenty bucks for both kids.

That wraps our shopping day up with a grand total of $226 dollars.

And to wrap up our tips, Tricia's got a list::

Tricia's list:

"Probably the best tip I can give you is don't take all of your kids with you. You get four different school supply lists it gets really confusing."

"In a couple of weeks they're going to be picked over and there's not going to be too many sizes."

"Don't be fooled, look for the prices."

Those are my elementary school shopping tips for this week.
Stay tuned for next week and I will have a whole list of tips to help you shop for your teenagers.