Whether you have a child starting preschool or you are packing up your baby to send to college, you know how expensive back to school can be. While I can’t eliminate all of the financial burden associated with back to school, I can surely help relieve some of the financial strain.
School Supplies
You should always wait until the last week of July to start purchasing your school supplies. Many stores will begin to run some great prices on supplies. Walmart and Target will set out new displays chocked full of discounts, up to 90% off of regular price. Watch for items such as crayons, notebooks, glue, and glue sticks for less than a quarter! Office supply stores also run some amazing prices, often supplies are as low as a penny. Yes, a penny! These sale items will differ each week, so it may take you a while to check off everything on your list. These items also go very quickly, so I recommend being there at open on Sunday (the start of the ad) to get the items you are after. There are also limits on the amount of each item you may purchase. Don’t forget to look at stores such as Walgreens, Rite Aid, and CVS for even more great supply sales. These stores run promotions similar to the office supply stores, and you can get name brand supplies for a few cents each. The blue coupons.com bar across the top of the blog will also sometimes have coupons for school supply deals. Check now for a $1/2 Bic Stationery Products coupon, which will make pens free at most stores.
Once you’ve got this year under control, keep an eye on Target and K-Mart for these supplies on clearance for dirt cheap (Walmart not so much!). Then stock up on the basics for next year, or even for later on this year when they run out of glue or wear their crayons to tiny nubs and prices have gone back to the overly inflated MSRP.
Clothing
I am one of the few parents that has a sixth sense that tells me what size her children will wear the next year, so that I can buy ahead. Ha! I think it’s just pure luck that I have children that go up one size every year. I try to buy all of my clothes at the end-of season clearance deals. Most of the kids’ clothes come from the Old Navy additional half off clearance sale that takes place in January and July. When paired with available coupons, I can bring home thousands of dollars in clothing (ok, overly inflated retail sticker price) for around $100.
When purchasing clothing, always shop sales! If there’s something you just have to have and there’s not a bright yellow sale sign above it, wait a week! Most department stores seem to rotate the sale merchandise so that every item goes on sale at least once a month.
Make a list and stick to it! Determine what your child will need for the year, and don’t stray from that. You can always add pieces to a wardrobe, but cash in your wallet doesn’t magically grow.
Buy all of your socks, underwear, and plain T’s now! You can purchase these items for around half of what you will the rest of the year during back to school.
When purchasing clothing at a retail store, always google the store name with printable coupon after it (such as JC Penney Printable Coupon). Many stores offer printable coupons that will only help save you money! Be sure to read the fine print on these coupons, especially those from Penney’s, Macy’s, or other large department store as they often exclude specific brands of merchandise.
Shoes
My favorite! We are lucky enough to have an outlet mall with an Adidas, Nike, Sketchers, and a Reebok outlet nearby (ok- about 60 miles from the middle of nowhere). I always try to catch the BOGO sale at Adidas. With many of their shoes $25 or less, I can outfit the whole family for less than one pair would cost at a shoe store. Team that with a printable coupon and we’ve got shoes stocked up for years. Yes, I stockpile shoes. With two children that are very hard on them, I try to buy a couple of each size to stick in the closet in case a pair rips or they just need some that look a little better. This way when it’s new shoe time, I’m not stuck paying full price for another pair somewhere closer.
Target will mark all of their summer and winter shoes 75% of each season. The summer shoes should have been clearance last week in some areas. This is a good way to get your little one (girls especially) a variety of shoes to wear for the upcoming year.
As with clothing, don’t forget to look for a printable coupon! Sign up for the mailing list at sporting goods stores. They normally run great sales on shoes. Our Hibbett Sports has Nike Shocks in youth sizes for $29.99. They also just mailed me a coupon for $10 off of a $20 purchase, making these shoes $19.99.
Textbooks
When sending a child off to college, it seems that textbooks cost more than tuition! Check out sites such as www.chegg.com that will allow you to rent textbooks for the semester. Half.com and Amazon also have discounted textbooks.
Textbooks are constantly updated with a ‘latest edition’. When a book is updated, older versions are taken out of bookstores and curriculum. Oftentimes, the only updates on these new editions are the switching of a couple of chapters (i.e. chapter 2 is now chapter 6) or the updating of statistics on a particular chart or graph. Many professors will continue to use the old edition of the books because of notes and personal preference. If you can communicate with the professor beforehand, ask them if you can use a previous edition of a book. If they will allow you to do so, you can probably find that book for less than $10 (a lot of times for less than $2) on half.com.
Sales Tax Holidays
Is it really better to shop on the ‘Tax Free Weekends’? Actually, probably not unless you’re after a big ticket item- and that is an iffy call at best. Stores rely on this weekend to bring out shoppers by the masses, hence running ‘great’ sales. But, if you’ve went the week before or the week after, you’ve probably found that prices are even cheaper than during the sales tax holiday. With an average sales tax rate of 8%, you will be saving $8 per $100 spent. Is it really worth fighting the crowds to save that when sale prices will probably be 30% off or more the next week? (yes- that’s saving $30+ per $100 instead of $8) What if you’re looking for a computer or software? If there’s a particular product that you’ve had your eye on for a while and haven’t seen a sale, by all means, buy it. But if you’re looking for something such as, say, any laptop, you might be better to shop around. Last week, Walmart offered a laptop for $298. Sales tax at 8% would amount to $24. This week, with the sales tax holiday, the same laptop is $598. But- you will save $24 on sales tax!
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I will vouch for half.com!! Buy a lot of books from there and sell a lot from there as well!!!!