I was chatting up a new friend on charities at a conference last week, and I caught myself sharing an old idea. The worst month for staying on budget when I was a single parent had to be September. In September comes school. With the start of school comes school fees and school supplies, school clothes and school shoes. It didn't help that for me at least, my driver's licence came up for renewal the same month. I always sweated it out in the fall, hoping I could keep food on the table and bills paid.
The school shoes were the worst. It's not like one pair would do. The janitor would specify scuff-free gym shoes - no outside shoes - for his gym. So each child would need at least three pair. One scuff-free for the gym, indoor shoes, and shoes or boots to get to and from school in. And in the early years at least, the child would either grow out or wear out those shoes midway through the year.
From my granddaughter's example I've learned that the schools have come a long way to help with school supplies. For a fee, the school will bulk buy and get every child what they need.
But what about the shoes? It seems to me that this would be a great way for a shoe company to step up to the plate and offer a shoe club or shoe membership plan. These days with bar codes, internet sign up, point plans and membership cards, it should be easy enough to set up. Perhaps a family could sign up for a monthly shoe club plan, say, for five dollars a month, they can accumulate credit towards the big shoe purchase in the fall. For families closer to the edge, sponsors could offer membership cards for qualifying families.
What do you think? Isn't a shoe plan a great idea?
The photo is borrowed from Jessica on Picasa. Thank you, Jessica.
