Are school supply kits worth the cost?

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- Several area stores are selling pre-packaged school supply kits, all in the name of convenience. You might be tempted to pick them up, but wait until you hear how much more you are paying.

The kit we purchased has everything for a third grader that is required by the school. The package includes plastic pocket folders, crayons, a pair of scissors, notebooks, and a pencil box. The entire kit cost $67.99.

We took the exact same list and shopped at a drug store to compare the price of the kit versus buying each item individually.

Filler paper was one of the most expensive items at $1.99 for a pack. If the school asked for specific name brand products, we purchased those. But when no brand was listed we picked the store brand to save even more money. We also used coupons from a store flyer to drop the prices even more.

All but two of the items were sold at the drug store, so we made an extra trip to an office supply store to pick up manila paper and construction paper, which turned out to be the most expensive items at $4.89 and $2.99 each.

After about 30 minutes of running errands, our total for the exact same list of school supplies was $20.93, compared to $67.99 for the same items in the pre-packaged kit. The savings for doing it ourselves was $47.06.

"You pay for convenience, like time is money and people think I don't have time to go around, and shop around and I can grab this and it's easy and I'd rather spend the money and save the time," said shopper Heather Lewis.

Keep in mind that some of the supply kits are sold at the end of the school year for the fall, and parents are able to pick them up on the first day of school. Many schools also sell the kits for fundraising purposes.