Our Best Frugal Tips for Shopping Back to School Supplies

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Communities in Schools’ most recent “Backpack Index” revealed that the average cost of school supplies was almost $1,000 per student last year. That’s an alarming figure, considering that many families are sending more than one child back to school. To make matters worse, that number doesn’t even include the cost of new shoes or clothing!

Thankfully, it’s still possible to save a lot of money on school supplies. With a little planning and preparation, you can get some really great deals. We’re here to help, and we’re getting you started EARLY this year with 20 of our very best tips for saving money on school supplies!

Keep all school supplies in a central location so they’re easy to find when it’s time to start loading backpacks. You may be surprised at how many items you don’t need to pay for this year because you stocked up last year!

Too many glue sticks? Rather than letting them dry out, ask other parents if they’d like to participate in a supply swap. You may be able to trade your overstock for supplies you still need.

The best back-to-school sales happen long before the first day of school. Even if you don’t get student supply lists early in the summer, keep your eyes peeled for those items you know will be on every student’s list (like number 2 pencils)!

As soon as school starts in your area, school supplies start going on clearance. This is the time to grab any final school needs, plus start next year’s back-to-school shopping. Speaking of which…

Then grab the rest of the items your student needs after they go on clearance. If you’re unsure about which items are essential for the first day, reach out to your child’s teacher (or the school office, if you don’t have the teacher’s contact information yet).

Know a good stock-up price point when you see it!  Keep a copy of our School Supply Price Point list for quick reference all year long.

Check our complete list to see if your state participates, and plan your back-to-school shopping for those days!

Watch our coupon database throughout the year. You’ll notice a surge in brands such as Bic, Kleenex, Post-It, Clorox, etc. that can often be used on items from your child needs for school. When paired with a sale, a store coupon, or used at a dollar store, you might even be able to score some of those products for free!

Level up your couponing game by following your favorite back-to-school shopping spots on Facebook or Twitter. Businesses often reward their loyal followers with exclusive coupons, and you’ll be the first to get the inside scoop on any upcoming in-store events or sales.

School supplies sell out quickly when they reach their stock-up prices, and many stores don’t restock these items because they’re considered “seasonal.” Weekly sales start on Sunday mornings, so take a quick peek at the ads from the Sunday paper and get out to the stores as soon as you can.

Don’t waste your limited time and energy agonizing over a three-cent price difference between similar items. If you’re pressed for time, focus your efforts on the most expensive items (probably laptops and other electronics). This is where you have the potential to save the most money!

Craft stores like Hobby Lobby, Jo-Ann Fabrics, and Michael’s may not seem like the obvious choice for finding deals on school supplies, but these stores regularly stock items like crayons, markers, glue, paint, paper, and other supplies that are sure to be on your child’s list. With weekly offers like 25% off your entire purchase or 40% off one regular-priced item, you may be able to score some great deals!

Use the Amazon app (iTunes or Google Play) while shopping at brick and mortar stores to check for the best prices. If you do find a better price, you can order it from your phone right there on the spot!

Stores like Target, Walmart, Staples, and Office Depot/Office Max are popular school supply retailers that honor competitors’ prices. Check each store’s individual policies for restrictions, exclusions, and limitations, and save!

In addition to price-matching, Office Depot/OfficeMax has one of the best rewards programs in the back-to-school business. It’s free to join, and members receive rewards for making purchases, posting product reviews, and recycling ink/toner cartridges.

Best of all, they offer Members Only Savings each week, where you can find products with offers for 100% back in rewards! Members can get items like highlighters, Sharpies, name-brand batteries, flashlights, copy paper, and even electronics for free after rewards!

Whether it’s back-to-school or Black Friday, get into the habit of checking Raise.com for discounted gift cards before your next shopping trip. You can save a significant amount of money on school supplies by purchasing them with gift cards you bought for less than face value.

Rebate apps like Ibotta reward you with cash back after qualifying purchases, and they make it super simple! Just buy your school supplies, then upload a photo of your receipt after each qualifying purchase. It’s so much more fun than the old mail-it-in-and-wait-by-the-mailbox rebate method! 😉

If you don’t already have the Cartwheel app on your phone, download it now! It’s an essential tool for back-to-school shopping at Target, and you’ll wonder how you ever survived without it!

Use it to scan your items as you add them to your cart, and the app will add any applicable offers to your wallet. Scan your barcode at checkout to receive your discounts – easy peasy!

Dollar Tree is still one of our favorite spots for finding back-to-school bargains! Here, you can find quite a few items to cross off your list for only a dollar. Look for school supplies that would typically be more expensive elsewhere, such as calculators, planners, clipboards, white out, disinfectant wipes, erasers and hand sanitizer.

The easiest way to save money on your back-school shopping is to stick with us all summer! We’ll bring you all of the best deals on school supplies as they happen. To be the first to know, you can bookmark our back-to-school deals, download the app, and sign up for HOT text alerts.

Source: Hip2save.com

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