Save Big Money on School Supplies

Saving money on school supplies is an easy enough task to master with only a slight amount of pre-planning and organization. With back to school just around the corner, now is the best time to start racking up the deals. This article will provide you with ten tips to maximize your savings when shopping for school supplies for your children.

Shop Out of Season

It is important to remember to shop for school supplies out of season. Most mass merchandisers (such as Wal-Mart, K-Mart, and Target) have clearance aisles throughout the year. During non-peak times for school supply purchases, these aisles are typically full of notebooks, folders, and other necessities at "red tag" prices.

Shop Early

If you have not already laid in a good supply of materials, then begin now. Many drugstores (who are not frequented to the extent of mass merchandisers for school supplies) offer their best prices before "official" supply lists are handed down in August and September. July is a great time of year to stock up on notebooks, filler paper, and composition books.

Look at the Circulars in the Sunday Paper

Any town of size will have several options for buying school supplies. Look in your local Sunday paper every week to find out which store (or stores) is hosting this week's best deals and work in a trip to this store on an errand run. Even if you just stock up on index cards at a quarter a pack, the savings will add up fast.

Rack Up Coupons

While coupons for school supplies do not exist in abundance, they can be found. Check store web-sites, ads, and packages for coupon or rebate deals. Many stores will offer mail-in rebate deals that end up making the product "free."

Join Rewards Programs

Many stores offer rewards programs that allow you to accrue points or savings towards future purchases. Be sure you are enrolled in these programs before you buy your first pack of pencils. When you begin to accrue points and savings now, next year's school supplies may be free.

Shop On-Line

Great deals on school supplies can be found on-line. From eBay to Amazon, chances are you can find the supplies you need or want at a bargain price, especially if you need to buy in bulk. Keep an eye out for discount codes and free shipping offers to ensure you are getting the best deal possible.

Office Supply Stores

Office supply stores such as Staples, Office Depot, and Office Max are usually quite pricey on much of their merchandise but will typically offer several products a week at next to no cost. (For instance, Staples recently had an offer where a customer could purchase a backpack and receive a rebate for the full purchase price.) Monitor these stores for bargains but do not make them your primary source for school supplies.

Dollar Stores

Dollar shops always offer a good bargain for those willing to dig through the bins, and they are an especially great help to parents with a cash flow problem. If you have several children school supply shopping can be a major financial strain. The effect can be diluted by adding a school supply to your shopping cart once a week (or every time you shop) at a dollar store. Spending fifty-two dollars at once can be hard to manage, but one dollar a week for fifty-two weeks is a total most budgets can meet.

Generic

While there are no official "generic" school supplies, there are less popular brands of pens, pencils, and notebooks available on the market. If you can trade in name-brand supplies for more basic titles, then more green will stay in your pocket.

Resale Stores

If you think resale shops are just for used clothing, think again! If you keep a consistent eye open at thrift stores, school supplies will pop up frequently. Unopened packages of paper, lightly used binders, and stacks of notebooks can often be found on the shelves and usually at rock bottom prices.

With a small amount of planning and a good eye for bargains, rewards, and coupons, anyone can save massive amounts of money when it is time for back to school shopping. Utilize the tips and tricks in this article and just watch the savings add up!