Back to School Shopping

Today's Author: Derron

There are many different ways to save money when it comes to sending kids back to school.  Anything from discount clothes shopping to utilizing supplies the school provides the child to packing a lunch once a week, families are finding a lot of ways to cut their spending with this pricey sacrifice.  Here is a list I’ve compiled of how I or others have mentioned they save some pennies before back to school time.

Re-Using last year’s supplies: Go through last year’s back pack to fine supplies that were not used.  In my home, desk cleanout day is the last day of school.  Normally there are pencils, pens, erasers, scissors and other supplies that make their way home the last day that can be re-used.  Don’t hesitate to go through last years backpack to see if there are any “gems” left over from the previous year.

Dollar Stores Vs. Bigger Chain Stores: For the most part, many of the supplies I buy prior to each school year can be purchased at any number of stores.  My daughter likes mechanical lead pencils and thankfully they can be found anywhere.  If you comparison shop for supplies (pencils in my case), you will find that dollar stores have the same type of supplies at a cheaper price.  I have purchased glue, staplers, pencils, pens and other supplies at dollar stores and have saved a noticeable amount of money.  To me, pencils and pens are just that, things to write with and if I can save a few bucks, I’m all for it.

Go early in the school supply season: If you shop early enough in the buying season, prices generally are cheaper.  If you wait until the last minute, stores do run out of supplies and you are stuck going to the more expensive stores.  That’s not my idea of saving money.  I try to get things as early as possible so that I’m not stuck going to a computer store or someplace like that which may charge double for certain things.  The earlier the better.

 Buy More Than One (or buy in Bulk): As I previously stated, a big back to school purchase in my home are mechanical pencils.  One of the things I found early on is that they do not last as long as they once did.  One way to decrease the number of trips to stores, use of gas and increased number of purchases is to make one large purchase.  Think of the mechanical pencil I have to buy, I can but a 10 pack for $1.99 or more.  That’s 20 cents per pencil.  If I purchase a 50 0r 100 pack, the price decreases to 15 cents a pack, depending on where I make my buy.  That’s the difference when you buy in bulk compared to a 10 pack.  Think of this with all your supplies and how you can use this philosophy.  Pens, pencils, erasers, book covers and markers can be purchased with larger numbers in the package can decrease cost.  Even if you buy 10 packs of pencils, you still are saving money by not making multiple trips to the store to re-stock.