Save now before Tax Free day

Save now before tax free day

It’s that time again- Back to school shopping. Although it is more synonymous with August considering that is when many students are heading back, in recent years Tax Free Day(s) is also the push to get school supplies. Tax free day is a popular shopping holiday that falls on the first Friday in August each year. On this day, many states offer shoppers the opportunity to purchase certain items without paying sales tax for that day or the entire weekend. Make sure you check to see if your state participates in this and to verify your state’s exact date. This holiday was designed to give shoppers relief on the expenditures related to back to school. Clothes, bookbags, school supplies, computers, are some examples of purchases that fall under tax exempt for the weekend.  This seems like a great time to shop on the surface,but it may benefit you to be more strategic and buy more items earlier. Below are some thoughts on why it is helpful to buy early and some circumstances to take advantage of the tax free day.

Deals are now abundant in July

July is now Christmas in July. More retailers are throwing all kinds of sales in order to gain your spending in direct competition with Amazon Prime Day. Use this to your advantage. If there are retailers that are offering 50% off now, it would be advantageous to buy now instead of risking a smaller discount of like 30% off and no tax. This means that you can find great deals on the items you need, even if they're not specifically on sale for tax free day. 

Old Navy is offering 50% and Target Circle 30% off on uniforms in July. This is a great deal if you need to buy new uniforms for work or school. Target Circle Week is also offering 30% off uniforms. Who knows what sales will be offered on tax free weekend especially now that July is becoming a large sale month. 

Another positive of taking advantage of the deals in July is there are mostly no limits unlike Tax Day. In certain states, there are limits on how much you can save per transaction and/or item.Tax free day is a great time to save money, but it's important to be aware of the limitations- the amount you can spend and certain items that are not exempt from sales tax. 

Give yourself more opportunities to shop

If a particular item sells out, it gives you more time to purchase again on tax free day. Give yourself more time and beat the crowd on certain items. If you are prone to writing a whole list of things to get and still forget an item or two, this also gives you the ability to still get some discount on the forgotten item. Popular items can sell out quickly and leave you to scramble in the time leading up to school to find another deal. It gives you more time to compare deals and shop for the best option.

Take advantage of the return policies.

If you are still not convinced that you are receiving the better deal, hold on to your receipts and leave the tags on. Most retailers allow 30 days to return stuff. MOST. Check each retailer for their return policy specific to the items being purchased. Since the start of the majority of the sales is less than 30 days from tax free weekend (again depends on your state). You can return the purchased item in July and then repurchase the same item for cheaper if there is a better sale going on.

Things to consider purchasing on Tax Free day

I know most of the focus of this blog post was on how it's better to purchase early, however I would be remiss if I didn't discuss some tips for shopping on tax free day. There are some key advantages for certain items/situations.

Laptops and computers are times you can utilize tax free day. Still check the Amazon Prime Days, and all other retailers that are selling high priced electronic goods for deals. If the particular item is not marked down or not marked down more than 10 percent, you are better off waiting to see if a bigger percentage is offered on tax free day. In that scenario, you could get the item cheaper with a markdown AND no sales tax. Again, refer to your local state for additional limits on the amount of sales tax that can be exempt from items.

For certain school supplies that are not on sale now, wait to purchase on tax free day. Then you can at least reap the benefit of no sales tax and maybe a sale. Office supply retailers may be more likely to offer deeper discounts on supplies tax free day(s) to boost their sales. Also, if you have to buy multiple of the same item you can benefit on a bulk purchase with no sales tax. Also you can check other retailers for clearance and off seasoned items.

Finally, don't forget to circle back and get any items that were sold out or you simply forgot to purchase to enjoy some sort of discount!

The important part of back to school shopping is to grab the best deals on items needed to reap savings for the household. That extra savings could always be useful in an impromptu Target run!😉

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