As summer vacation draws to a close, back-to-school shopping is brought to the forefront of every parents mind! School supplies, new shoes, new jeans, a new winter coat, lunchboxes, and backpacks – the lists of needed supplies can seem endless; especially for a family on a budget! Thankfully there are several great ways for a family on a budget to learn how to save on back-to-school shopping!
1Focusing On What You Need
One of the first and most important back-to-school tips is you should create a list of the things that you absolutely need to get to ensure that your kids are well equipped to hit the books at the start of the new school year. A back-to-school checklist will not only help you to keep a focus on the things that you are purchasing but it will also ensure that you don’t forget anything that you need!
To help you to stay on track with what you need, consider doing your back-to-school shopping without your kids; not only will they slow your progress down but they will also drive up the potential for coming home with a cart full of items that you simply did not budget for.
2Keep An Eye Out for a Good Back-to-School Discount
With the ramp up to back-to-school shopping, the majority of stores take advantage of the need that parents have by offering discounts and specials on the much-needed supplies. Try to do a fair bit of comparison shopping in order to ensure that you’re getting the best deals possible; keep an eye out for television commercials and back-to-school sales advertised in the paper so that you can be well aware of which sales are the best to hit! Roaming aimlessly around an outlet mall without a focus or an idea as to which stores may be offering the best deals on gym shoes is not the most efficient or budget-friendly method of doing your shopping!
Don’t forget that the "Big Box" stores like Wal-Mart and Target are sure to have exceptional back-to-school sales on clothing and may even carry supply lists from your area schools!
3Back-to-School Deals
Search online coupon outlets and peruse the coupon sections in your Sunday newspaper for back-to-school deals. While buying generic labeled products can certainly yield large savings for the average family, by taking advantage of coupons combined with in-store savings, you can oftentimes purchase name-brand products at a significantly lower price. Check the websites for your favorite retailers and even for your favorite products; many companies are in the habit of offering coupons to guests om their website. And remember that a coupon savvy household is a household that can save as much as $800 a year on their grocery bills!
4Back-to-School Shopping Online
Consider doing a fair bit of your shopping online to ensure that you are getting the best deals on the items that you need; many retailers will offer online-only coupons that can help you to help keep within your allotted budget. Additionally, you may be able to find several items a lot more affordably via online retailers; by taking advantage of online coupons and free shipping, it may even work out to be a better deal for your wallet to shop almost exclusively online!
An added perk to shopping online is that you may be able to pick up items for your kids that their peers may not have; this is a great way to earn "Cool Mom" points - even if the item is something as simple as a unique backpack to carry their books and other supplies in.
5Buying In Bulk
There are many back-to-school deals to be if you purchase your kid's back-to-school supplies in bulk; if you have more than one child in the family, buying a large package of socks or pencils or even juice boxes in bulk amounts can go a long way towards saving you a few extra dollars. If you just have one child then you could consider teaming up with a few friends so that you can purchase your bulk school supplies and save a few dollars together!
6Hand-Me-Downs
While advertisements would have you and your kids believe that only the latest and newest trends will do for back-to-school fashions, there is a lot that can be said about hand-me-downs or even in purchasing lots of gently used clothing off of eBay or Craigslist. Items like jeans can show very little wear before they are ready to be discarded for a better fitting pair; kids grow so fast that their clothing often doesn’t even get an opportunity to get abused by sports and grime! Shoes are often the exception to this rule, however. With the abuse that today’s active kid puts on his athletic shoes, you may just be better off biting the bullet and purchasing new shoes for your kids. By combining the great deals that you’ll score on gently worn jeans with savings on t-shirts and sweaters, your kids will be ready to hit the hallways in comfort and style! (While also helping you to stick to your household budget!)
7Tax-Free Weekends
While not all states offer a tax-free weekend for back-to-school supplies, it is a great shopping incentive for those that do and it is a good way to save on the back-to-school supplies that you need. The savings may be a few cents off of every dollar; however, every penny counts when it comes to managing your budget! Find out if your state offers this great shopping incentive, and be sure to verify which items qualify for the tax free program; in general it is clothing items, back packs, pens, pencils, rulers, etc.
By being a savvy coupon user and by carefully monitoring which retailer is offering sales on what, you will be able to not just stick to your back-to-school budget, but you may even find that you have a little something extra left over to put towards something for yourself! Or...at least for a back-to-school backyard barbecue for the family!
