I LOVE school supplies. New scissors. Fun folders. The smell of a new bottle of glue (I promise I’m not sniffing it). And at back to school time, I love the deep discounts retailers provide to entice you to purchase all of your academic essentials from their aisles. With all of the great deals, it can be easy to overspend or miss out on some of the best ways to save. Here are my favorite strategies to maximize the sales so you can save the most money on back to school supplies.
Don’t Replace Everything
Even though it might feel like a tradition or necessity, you don’t need to replace every single item your child uses every single year. Backpacks, lunch boxes, rulers, scissors, pencil boxes, and more can be used more than one year. Before you rush to the store, evaluate what you already have. Print out the list of items required for your child from your school’s website and compare it to those things you can use again. You will cut down on clutter and waste while also saving money. Triple bonus.
Pick Up the Loss Leaders
Every week, stores place items on sale called “loss leaders.” Whether it’s a deal on crayons or the lowest price on bananas you’ve ever seen, loss leaders are items designed to pull you into the store with the hopes that you’ll purchase more than just that specific deal. This practice is incredibly evident during the back to school shopping season. If you want to be the savings top student, try to pick up loss leaders while you’re out and about. During the next few weeks, on your routine grocery trips or errand missions, zip through the back to school section to see what’s on sale and pick up only those items. Add them to your pile of reusable items and from there create a hit list of what you still need to purchase.
Pair Sales with Coupons
Back to school time is one of the very best seasons to find and use coupons. Whether you clip yours from the Sunday paper or use an online printable coupon interface or use an app, today is a great day to find coupons to get the best bang for your back while back to school shopping. I’d suggest reading The Best Ways to Save Money at Walmart, The Best Ways to Save Money at Meijer, or The Best Ways to Save Money at Target depending on where you shop most often for specific strategies on how to use coupons effectively. You might also want to check out The Best Apps to Save Money at the Grocery Store.
Wait a Little While
Even if you would like to replace your child’s backpack or lunch box, your odds of saving increase if you can wait just a little while. A month or two after the hubbub of back to school shopping dies down, larger items like backpacks, calculators, lunch boxes, and water bottles will begin to drop in price as items are clearanced to prepare the way for holiday decor. I’ve picked up backpacks for as little as $0.75 before simply by starting the school year with what we already have and being patient to buy a new item a couple of months after the girls returned to the classroom.
Build Your Stockpile
If your budget allows, you may want to purchase double the items necessary to begin the academic year. While this may seem counterintuitive to saving money, school supplies will never be more affordable than during late July through the month of August. And I’m certain that your child will lose crayons and her folder will rip and his glue will dry out. So it’s a good idea to buy double the loss leaders or stock up when items do go on clearance so that you can save money later in the year when a need arises. Don’t go overboard but plan for the future and then store the items in a place where you can find them when you need them.
Back to school sales can be great fun and provide affordable prices for necessary items. Be sure you set a budget before you go and use cash to keep your spending reigned in.
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 Inspiration to Pay Off Debt: 30 Days of Encouragement from the Queen of Free
This post contains an affiliate link. That means when you get a great deal or maybe even something for free, you also help our family pay off our mortgage early. And for that, we royally thank you!
