Whether your child is heading off to school for the first time or your an old pro; back-to-school shopping can be daunting and potentially budget busting. Take a look at these 3 tips for heading Back-to-School. Plus look out for tomorrow’s post on the Top 10 Ways to Save on Back-to-School supplies.
1. Make a list of all school supplies required & keep it with you.
- Take a picture of your child’s school supply list with your phone. That way you can reference it while out shopping.
- Create a list using a Note App on your phone. This is particularly great if you have multiple children.
- Combine like items, so you have an accurate count of supplies needed.
- Edit the “Note” as you purchase items.
- Include the child you are purchasing for when referencing items that can be personalized such a binders, folders or notebooks. You don’t want to purchase a 2″ pink Unicorn binder only to realize it was your son that needed that size!
2. Label it.
Use labels to identify your child’s school supplies. Typically lower grade levels will collect all the school supplies & randomly assign items to the children. Your child may not end up with the same item you purchased. While the glue sticks may not matter; you might spend a bit more on other items. Personally, I purchase the plastic 3-prong folders vs the paper since they tend to hold up a bit better. I can find these on sale, but I still tend to pay a bit more. I label those, so the teacher makes sure my child gets the item(s) I purchased.
You can look for offers on Daily Deal Sites such as Groupon, Living Social & MamaSource or print your own at home.
3. Shop after school sales & throughout the year.
Taking advantage of sales once children are back in school is a great way to save for next year or to donate to the classroom. Look for backpacks marked down in September/October or around Christmas. My children have $50 Roxy and Quicksilver backpacks that were purchased for just $10 each! Throughout the year you will also find Crayola products going on clearance as well as notebooks, writing pads and more. Take advantage of the closeout prices when stores are trying to get rid of last years stock.
See the weekly Back-to-School Deals
Great idea- putting the list in a memo in your phone!