With a little over a week until the first day school, I am happy to say that I am ready! Nothing like waiting until almost the last minute, right? Jacob is going into 3rd grade. Fortunately, he doesn’t need a ton of supplies like notebooks and what not. What he did need desperately, however, is new clothes. Shirts in particular.  It seems like he outgrew all his shirts this summer. I tried to convince him to slow down on the growing for a bit, but it seems like his endocrine system has a different idea.

Find your first day look at JCPenney

*This post was written in partnership with JCPenney. All opinions are my own.

I’ve always been a fan of JCPenney. They have all the clothing styles that Jacob loves at affordable prices. Plus, their clothes are made to last. I’ve passed down many outfits from JCP to my cousin’s son over the years. For this campaign, I received a $200 gift card to head to my local JCP and do some back to school shopping!

Jacob actually loves clothes shopping. He was really excited to go on a spree to pick out new clothes. His school is the last in our area to allow kids to wear whatever they want (within reason). I know a lot of people love the idea of uniforms, but I’m not one of them. Individuality is incredibly important to me. It’s something that I try to instill in Jacob. I like that he can wear a variety of styles and show off his personality. This isn’t about debating the pros and cons of uniforms in public schools, though. It’s about shopping at JCP and finding fun back to school styles.

Stretching your budget at JCPenney

Since I don’t usually have a lot of room in the budget for clothing, I was really careful about stretching that $200 as far as possible. I took inventory of the clothing Jacob already had and realized that while he’s pretty okay on jeans, he has maybe five shirts that will fit him throughout the school year. Taking inventory of what you already have is vital to stretching your budget!

Jacob also needed a new backpack. This was something he was super excited about picking out. He headed straight to the wall of backpacks to choose his favorite.

We were both happy to see that JCPenney has a huge selection of all the coolest characters. Jacob was going to choose the Avengers backpack, but at the last minute decided to go with the Phineas and Ferb pack. I was happy because that one came with a lunch bag too! Plus, when I got to the register to pay, it turns out they were on sale for $14.99! Score!

We spent a good 45 minutes browsing and looking for the best combination of deals and style. Right now, Jake is really into shirts with funny sayings. He found one that I thought was just perfect for him. It says ” I didn’t do it. I’ve been right here all day!” He also found one that shows off his love of video games as well as one that showcases on of his favorite games. We completed the wardrobe with a thick character hoodie for the fall months. Although Jake can’t wear hats to school, I did let him pick out one for home because he really wanted it.

In the end, we left with a backpack, a hat, a thick hoodie, a pair of pajamas,  two pairs of jeans and about eight shirts for $206. Not too bad, right? I think he’s all set for his first day! Now we just need to decide which shirt he’ll wear on that day!

Come find your #FirstDayLook at jcpenney. For back-to-school and every day, we bring you the quality and comfort you want with the style and affordability you deserve.