10 Tips for Saving Money on Back-to-School Shopping – Part One

Before I had kids, Christmas was the only time I had to dole out big chunks of money at one time. Nowadays, it seems like back-to-school shopping can be just as expensive. Here are five tips for saving money as you begin the arduous task of buying everything your kids need to head back to school. These five focus on school supplies. Look for the next five tips, which include clothing and electronics, in our next blog post.

1. Take Inventory Before You Shop

Don’t buy what you already have. We seem to get pencils and erasers at every birthday party we attend. I have so many pencils that I may actually give them away in goody bags this year. I also have a bunch of supplies that my son’s teacher sent home at the end of the last school year. Some were never used and some were gently used. I’m not buying new. I’m sharpening and wiping down and sending those back to school. You should, too.

2. Shop Sales and Use Coupons

This one is obvious but often gets overlooked. Walgreen’s, CVS, Wal-Mart, Target and lots of other places have already started advertising deep discounts on school supplies. Why pay $2 for a box of colored pencils you get can on sale for $.25 cents? Walgreens often has extra savings when you use the coupon in the ad flyer. Print the flyer online and print multiple copies for added savings. The store will be out of flyers by the time you get there. Toys R Us also has a big sale on school supplies right now.

3. Go Basic

There are backpacks, lunch boxes, notebooks, folders, pencils and so many other supplies decorated with your kids’ favorite TV and movie characters, and they tend to cost a small fortune. Last year, I could get a Transformers spiral notebook for $3 or the same spiral notebook in a plain color for $.15 cents. I bought the plain one and let my son decorate it with Transformers stickers we already had at home.

4. Buy in Bulk

Speaking of spirals for $.15, buy as many as you can store in your house. The same goes for pencils, glue, crayons and anything else you never seem to have laying around when your kid brings home his or her first big project assignment. School supplies don’t go bad, but the prices will go up. Get them while they are practically free and use them for party bags and birthday gifts, too.

5. Take Advantage of Social Media and Your Cell Phone

Retailers on Facebook are constantly offering deals to customers who “like” their pages. Like pages such as Mommy’s Wish List and find all kinds of deals, not just on schools supplies, but on everything under the son, including free gas for your car. If you download an app like RedLaser to your phone, you can scan bar codes and go online to find out which store in your area has the cheapest price.

See the next five tips in our next blog post.