Kids School Shopping
When should I start shopping for school? Timing is key to getting deals on kids school supplies, even the top brands. Majority of deals on school shopping lists occur mid July through the remainder of summer. The other key time for purchasing supplies with the most savings, I will mention later on in this post. I have five ways that can help you keep more coins in your purse for the school shopping list.
Use the tax free day.
There are at least 14 states that have a tax free holiday: Florida, Iowa, Missouri, New Mexico, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas, Virginia, Maryland, Alabama, Arkansas, Mississippi and Tennessee. If your state is not on the list, double check to see if they have recently passed legislation for a tax free holiday. If you already have a tax free day, double check what day it is so that you can plan your shopping trips accordingly. If you do not save anywhere else at least you are saving up to 10% off in sales tax on school supply sales and clothing on the tax holidays in each state. There are limits on the amount of items you can get tax free, so you may need to bring multiple accomplices to make purchases on your behalf if you reach the limit. Also keep in mind that you can purchase many top clothing brands using the tax holiday too.
Buy up the clearance section.
So after school has started, around mid September (at the latest), you will start to see price drops on school supplies because the demand is less and stores are making more room for Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas. This is the time to grab up extra supplies and or replacements that would be needed throughout the year or you can even pick up stuff for your kids for next year. The only downside of purchasing supplies during this time is exact availability of items. For example, if a If you need a specific brand of markers, it may be out of stock at the clearanced price. One of my kids brought home a list of supplies for all grades/ classrooms in her school. So I have advance notice of what supplies they will need and can take advantage of the summer low prices and the clearance super low prices. Even if your school does not do their lists in advance, try to guess on what items your child may need the following year. If they are primary school age, chances are they will need crayons, pencils, a box kleenex. Middle schooler-, notebooks, pens, calculators. Junior high kids highlighters, planners, binders.High schoolers are a toss up because they have so many teachers and requirements, the best guess would be what supplies your student uses to study with- notecards, pens, paper, highlighter. You can also ask the school for items that the teachers requested for students to have this year assuming the teacher will be back the following year with similar requests.
For any supplies not used, you can give to organizations that typically do book bag giveaways. I intentionally grab supplies around my home that my kids won't use and/or purchase supplies during this time for organizations that typically request supplies for giveaways and tuck away until the next summer when they are being requested. I am able to buy more for the same budgeted donation amount in order to give away. I love saving while spending. 😊
Buy in Bulk.
If you need a large amount of something, you get more for a cheaper price in bulk. This is where your neighborhood Sams or Costco will come in handy. If Lysol wipes are requested, you could buy a large pack for home and send them to school for your child's classroom as necessary throughout the year for less than buying individually. We purchase toilet paper, paper towels, water bottles, and tissues from Costco, which saves us since we use those products in abundance. It almost always saves to buy in bulk - get access to a membership. A basic level membership is $45 for Sams and $60 to Costco. They have other levels (more money/more perks) and each store has a variety of offerings including the basics mentioned above. Its up to you to figure out which works best for your family.
If you do not have a membership to one of those places but don't think you would use it often enough to warrant a membership, gain access by asking a friend with a membership to pick items up for you when they go and reimburse them for the products. If budget is an issue, ask to go half on a membership costs with another family, that way you both can reap the benefits.
Go back through and recycle unused or lightly used items.
At the end of the school year (or now) do an inventory of all the remaining supplies. Are they in good shape? For example, Do the crayons need to be sharpened? Sharpen them and put in a new crayon box- viola it's like new. Put all of these supplies in a container away from use over the summer so they are ready for the next school year. The remaining items can be sorted to create kits or thrown away if too beat up. For example, rundown crayons can be used for melted wax art or dried out markers can be pitched. This will also help determine what new supplies you will need for the kids to complete homework at home or to use during craft/free time.
Back to school giveaways.
Back 2 School festivals and giveaways are in abundance late July and early August. Make sure you attend at least one to get a start on school supplies that you will need. It can help reduce the number of the items needed to purchase. Many people think the giveaways are just for disadvantaged kids, however there are many organizations that are just giving supplies out to kids in the community regardless of income. My school gave me 2 bookbags and extra freebies at the end of their welcome fair because they didn't want to take back the giveaway items.Just check the flyer for details for targeted demographics.
I use these tips to get deals on quality supplies at many retailers- I love Target back to school. Just make sure you check a variety of retailer ads for back to school specials and back to school sales. Also, don't forget to purchase play supplies for the kids to use at home like construction paper, glue, markers, mechanical pencils (I personally hate having to sharpen pencils), etc. Although the focus is on kids, I would suggest picking up office supplies for yourself. Do you need a bulletin board for your home office? Here’s a crazy idea, purchase tape for gift wrapping for Christmas at a discounted rate.🤯🤯🤯🤯
The goal is to save on supplies you need at ANYTIME OF THE YEAR during school shopping season- no need to pay full price.😉
Check out the School supplies sale in my links below.
Link to Collection of School Supplies:
Individual Links:
Crayola Crayons- 50 cents😮
https://rstyle.me/cz-n/gpqsyfc29d7
Crayola Markers- 99cents 😮
https://rstyle.me/cz-n/gpqvdhc29d7
Elmers 2pk Glue sticks
https://rstyle.me/cz-n/gpqwb4c29d7
Bic pencils