It’s that time of year again. Back to School shopping can be stressful and expensive.
Use these 12 tips to save your sanity and your budget.
1. Take inventory at home first
Check for unused school supplies/overstock at home. It’s super frustrating to purchase new supplies only to find brand new unused supplies at home.
2. Go through your kids’ closets first
You need to do this with your child because it’s too overwhelming for them to do it by themselves.
Have them try on anything that looks like it could be too short or too tight and get rid of anything they won’t wear.
3. Establish your child’s immediate needs
The warmer weather will be around when school starts so take advantage of summer sales.
Kids can wear short sleeve shirts year-round and if you have boys they will try to wear shorts year-round too.
Kids also go through growth spurts quickly so you don’t want them to grow out an item before they even get to wear it.
4. Write down your child’s sizes
Keep an index card or notes on your phone with your child’s shoe/ shirt/ pants sizes and needs.
5. Establish a budget
Don’t buy a lot of clothing without your older kids. It’s not a good deal if your kid won’t wear it.
Give them a budget and they will become more interested in stretching those dollars.
Shop at stores like TJ Maxx for greater savings for current styles. Go generic when you can on school supplies and wardrobe basics.
6. Invest in the quality items that you want to last the whole school year
Don’t go cheap on a backpack unless you are ok with replacing it within the same school year. LL Bean and Jansport both have lifetime guarantees on their backpacks.
7. Print the School Supply List and keep it with you
There are some stores that print up the school supply list, but they can run out and it’s really hard to read the list from your phone while trying to focus on locating and crossing off the items.
If you need to visit more than one store, keep track of items with the notes on your phone.
8. Be prepared to shop at more than one store
Most stores will have a few items that are underpriced but you can quickly lose those savings with other overpriced items. Take advantage of tax-free shopping weekends for even greater savings.
9. Shop at stores with price matching
Check the store’s website for details first, but this could come in handy if you have a sales ad and want to reduce trips.
10. Look for deals at your local grocery store
Don’t overlook your local grocery store when it comes to back to school shopping. Multitask and you can cross a few items off your school shopping and grocery list.
11. Use apps for pricing and discounts
Scan the tag for instant price comparison with Redlaser and Shop Savvy for price checking, Retail Me Not for coupons, and Walmart Savings Catcher for price adjustments.
Check the store’s website for additional coupons and savings.
12. Earn Cashback for Online Purchases
Earn 100% commission for every qualifying purchase TopCashback
A big part of back-to-school shopping success is planning before you go.
Disclosure- This post contains affiliate links which means I receive a commission if you make a purchase using this link.
I actually have no idea about the cashback. I wish I knew about it just a few months earlier so we can save some on all the stuffs we bought. Oh well, better late than never, I will keep it in mind for the next year.