New apparels, notebooks, lunchboxes, pens, backpacks, crayons, and other school supplies are the only good things about going back-to-school, but that doesn’t mean you have to incur a huge amount of credit card debt. Here are the 8 tips to buy back-to-school supplies you need and save money simultaneously.
- Visit the supermarket: Check out the weekly circulars for deals on pens and papers. Buy them when you’re out for grocery shopping. This is called killing two birds with one stone. You can buy everything in one place without wasting gas and time.
Don’t pay full price for all the items you need. Look at the money-saving deals every week to get the things you need at an awesome price.
- Shop on tax-free shopping days: Several state and local governments offer sales tax-free shopping days with the back-to-shoppers in mind. Mark the tax-free days on your calendar. For instance, the tax-free period in Connecticut is from August 19 to August 25. In Florida, the sales tax-free period is from August 3 to August 5. If you live in these states, try to shop the eligible items during this period. You’ll get several things tax-free.
- Stick to your shopping list: The teacher’s supply list is already too long. So don’t waste money on extra supplies. They may be cute but won’t be used at all. Why should you spend your hard earned dollars on those items?
- Think out of the box: Deals come with certain limitations. So you have to think out of the box. For instance, if you’re not getting a good deal on a regular set of crayon at your nearest store, don’t lose hope. You can get it at some other store. All you need to do is find out a store that is giving a good deal. If a particular item is out of stock in a store, then look for another one who will price match it. Buy the item at the price you want it.
There is yet another tip you can use. Carry your old binder when you’re out for back-to-school shopping. Some stores give $2 credit when you give an old binder to them. You can use it for buying a new binder. There’s no limit but you have to recycle the old binder on the same day.
- Skip colors and characters: One of the biggest expenses for back-to-school is backpacks. The biggest way to save on backpacks is to go for the off-name brand. Stay away from characters. There is no point in paying more for just having your favorite character’s face on your backpack. You can save a lot of money if you go for generic and solid colors. Look for the deals too. You can get 25% to 50% discounts on the backpacks during the back-to-school season. Give priority to quality over colors, characters, and big name brands.
- Leave the kids at home:Kids are too much interested in buying things that don’t matter. They need pencils and pens. It doesn’t matter how these pencils and pens look because they are compelled to use them. That’s how a school works. Fun colors and characters do cost more. Your goal is to grab the best deal on pencils and pens. Your goal is not to choose the ones that look the prettiest. Leave the kids at home and stay away from characters in your all school supplies. You’ll save a lot of money.
- Plan ahead:If you know your back-to-school expenses will be around $350, then it’s better to create a separate savings account and request your bank to transfer $7 into it every week. When the back-to-school season arrives next year, you’ll have the money for buying all the school supplies.
Try to save money throughout the year. Send lunchbox every day so that your kids don’t have to buy foods from the cafeteria. Those foods are not healthy. Plus, they cost money too. Honestly speaking, you can save almost $1000 over the school year by feeding your kids home-cooked meals at lunch. You can use that money for various purposes. For instance, you can use it for buying notebooks, paying for music lessons, participating in a sports team, etc.
- Download textbooks online:Download textbooks to your computer. That’s way cheaper than buying physical copies. Look at the school syllabus of your kid. If only 2 chapters are included in syllabus from a particular book, then download those chapters online. Don’t buy the whole book and waste money. You can also try buying textbooks online. You’ll get big discounts.
Conclusion
Kids love new things. Plus, they have become picky after the advent of social media platforms like Pinterest and Instagram. But this doesn’t mean you have to spend a fortune during the second biggest shopping season after Christmas. Be a savvy-shopper and avoid getting into debt problems during the back-to-school shopping season. Remember, Black Friday, Halloween, Thanksgiving Day, and Christmas are a few months away. You have to set aside money for the festive season too. If you don’t, then be ready to choose any of these options.
Forget celebrating Christmas and New Year.
Swap your credit cards, shop as per your requirement, increase your outstanding balance, and settle your debts in 2019.
The choice is yours.
According to the National Retail Federation, consumers are expected to spend $82.8 billion for K-12 schools and colleges. Families with children are all set to spend $684.79 on an average. I think that’s a huge waste of money. Plan a budget and strike out the items that your child isn’t using in the class. Use the aforementioned tips to avoid spending $684.79 on your child during the back-to-school shopping season.