Where did the summer go? How can it be that just yesterday we were saying goodbye to our school friends and starting off on yet another summer vacation. Yet now it seems a big imaginary clock is hanging over my house with a loud booming ticking noise to remind us all that a new school year will be starting before we know it.
Or maybe it’s just the fact that I started shopping for school supplies last week, which put both myself and the kids into quite an upset. Well upset that it meant the start of the school year was looming, but kind of a win for me in that I was getting a jump start on school supplies and some smoking good deals at Target.
For those of you who are just getting started with your school supply shopping (or aren’t anywhere near starting) I’ve come up with list of tips for getting your shopping done on time and hopefully as cheaply as possible.
• Use a List – Many schools offer very specific lists for each grade that are available via their website. If not do a little research via other parents to find out specifically what your child is going to need. This saves you from wasting money no items that won’t be used during the school year.
• Watch for Deals – Wherever you do your shopping (Target, Walmart, Bog Lots, etc) make sure you sign up for their weekly deals email newsletters via their website. Target and Walmart both have iPhone apps that offer deals as well coupons via texting on your mobile phone. But don’t forget to keep it old school by checking out the regular newspaper ads that come in the mail also.
• Spread the Word – Use Facebook your email contact list or whatever way it is that you keep in touch with your other mom friends from school. Spread the word that your keeping your eye out for the sales and ask them to do the same. I’ve found out about great sales simply from word of mouth.
• Go to Costco with a Group– If you or a friend has a Costco membership join forces with a group. If you all go in as a group and buy the needed school supplies in bulk you can save yourselves a lot of money.
• Start Slowly – You can also make school supply shopping a little easier on your wallet by buying one or two items a week until school starts. This is how I’ve been doing it and it can be much easier to handle the extra expense.
• Shop Online – Shopping online will give you much wider choices when shopping for the best price on school supplies. If your shopping for more than one child, you can possibly purchase enough to even save on shipping.
Photo from gabrielaaa
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{ 9 comments }
I love the "Start Slowly" tip, but that only really works for the basics. I don't know how the schools request supplies in CA or what sort of requests you get, but we get all sorts of requests that I always think the schools should just buy – tissues, paper towels, things like that. It just makes sense to take that tax money and buy it all in bulk so it's just there rather than asking parents to buy stuff the schools should just have.
We also get requests for specific colors of folders, notebooks, construction paper, and similar items to buy. As we don't get the lists until about 1 month or so before school starts, buying early doesn't work well for those items. (One month is the best case a lot of times.)
For the basic supplies, we generally go for the "no frills" versions. If our kid wants something different, the difference comes out of her "spend" money. That doesn't mean we get the cheapest things possible, but that we don't spring for the trendy covers or extra fancy pens or pencils.
Totally agree with the advice overall – just wish we had more sane supply lists here at this time of year. I can also take some pleasure in knowing that our district isn't as bad as some of the other ones around us as far as what's requested.
So true Peter! We also have to supply tissue, cleaning wipes, and many specific items that vary by grade as well. Last year each child actually had to supply a ream of paper as well. We are lucky though that our lists are given to each child in their end of the year paperwork (outgoing 1st graders get the list for 2nd graders, and so on). The lists are also available on the school website, so we can start our shopping at the very beginning of summer to help ease the burden. I also like that our 1st grade teachers ask for a $20 donation on their list (to be given at the beginning of the school year) and in turn have a much shorter list of supplies than the other grades and also don't ask for money for field trips the rest of the year…
I found a site where you can get coupons for restaurant called "Printapon" they are on all over the news, search online
Did you save money school shopping with that?
In college, we get a syllabus and a list of books and materials. Why wouldn’t we want the same in K-12 classes? Checking with the teacher is an excellent idea. It should save you money.
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Agreed!
I have been buying school supplies throughout the month when I see what we need on sale, a penny for paper, 5 cents for binders etc, I use coupons and also reuse a lot of the supplies from last year.
great tips on school supply shopping! my children just want to buy buy buy!
I always always shop circulars and clip coupons too and watch out for Sunday papers when they have the Office Max sales where anything you can fit in to their paper bag you get for a certain price. Those are great ways to save huge amounts of money on the little stuff that really adds up!