Believe it or not, some students in our community are already back in school! If you still need to purchase the essentials, have no fear. This is your guide to save more money on school supplies.
Build a Strategic List
Before you buy anything, you’ll need a list. Don’t just download the classroom from your school’s site. Begin by looking over the full list and then checking through your current supplies. Check items off the list that you already own and begin building your pile or filling your backpack. Then transfer the remaining items to your list.
If you’re looking for an app to organize your list, we use the app Cozi. You can build lists per store and then members of your kids can add their needs to those lists.
Shop Loss Leaders
Each week, stores entice you in their doors with great deals. These special buys are prevalent throughout the year but abound during Back to School. Those 1 cent, 25 cent, 50 cent, and dollar deals are called “Loss Leaders” because the store actually loses money on them. The hope is you’ll spend even more while you’re there.
To save more money at Back to school, be sure to snag these deals on your regular trips to the store. You can build a stockpile of supplies while they’re priced the lowest of the year. Don’t go too crazy though. You won’t need 50 reams of filler paper to make it through the first grade. 5 – 10 max of these low priced items should do the trick for the entire year.
Reuse Durable Goods
No matter how good the deals are, you don’t need to buy every item every year. In fact, you should be able to reuse all of the following (and more!):
- Backpack
- Lunch Box
- Binders
- Pencil Box
- Reusable Water Bottle
- Ruler/Protractor/Compass
- Scissors
- Calculator
- Flash Drive
- Ear Buds
- Markers/Colored Pencils/Crayons
Obviously, there comes a time to replace everything, but if you can begin the year with items you already own you’ll save. Plus larger items like backpacks and lunch boxes will clearance out at prices much lower than the current sales.
Price Match
Many stores have a price match policy. You’ll have to visit individual websites to see specific stipulations. For instance, Target matches its own website (sometimes online prices are cheaper than in stores) and competitors’ in store and online prices. Even if you buy the item at Target and find it cheaper somewhere else up to 14 days later, you can bring in the receipt and receive the difference. Staples features a 110% Price Match policy where you not only get items at the same price but also receive another 10%.
Coupons
There are a plethora of coupons available right now for back to school shopping! Be sure to check out the following:
- Target Back to School – Cartwheel has both offers for Back to School and Back to College.
- Office Depot has 20% Off Qualifying School Supply purchases. PLUS you can shop online and pick up in the store, even scoring those $0.10 notebooks.
- Meijer’s mPerks has a $5 off any backpack good through 8/10/2019 and a few other school supply offerings, too.
- Staples has a 20% Off Of School Supplies Coupon when you purchase a backpack and plenty of other offers, too.
School shopping doesn’t have to tank your finances. Save money on school supplies with these simple tips! You’ve got this, debt slayers.
Our new book Your Money, Your Marriage is now available! Be sure to check out videos on managing money together on Facebook.
My book is now available: Slaying the Debt Dragon: How One Family Conquered Their Money Monster and Found an Inspired Happily Ever After. You can also check out The Debt Free Devotional
This post contains an affiliate link. That means when you get a great deal, learn about a way to save, or maybe even something for free, I may end up making a small commission. All prices are subject to change.
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