I am a single momma that is going to school and rocking a major budget so I am always thinking about how to save money on school supplies. Through all of my semesters, I've developed a finely tuned system that I think really makes it easy and I am always willing to share with you, my lovely readers. If you're someone that loves to save as much as I do, you'll want to read these 7 tips that will teach you just how to save money on school supplies.
This is a great tip for saving money in anything but it really is how to save money on school supplies. This quarter I found 3 subject notebooks on Amazon.com for a penny! Literally a penny. So, I bought a hundred and bundled them with some other supplies that I bought for free super saver shipping. If you keep your eye out during the year, especially around September, it's really easy to find deals like this anywhere!
This seems like common sense but a lot of us like to get a head start on these things. But if you wait, you'll see just how far school supplies get marked down before you go back to school. Since I'm a college student and there are 4 quarters, I always stock up on everything in September when they mark down things for the youngins!
Seriously, coupons are my favorite things, and so are coupon codes. You would be amazed at how cheap you can get things with a few snips with some scissors or a quick copy and paste online. Every little cent counts so don't discount the worth of $0.25, especially if you live in a place where it's easy to get a coupon doubled!
I NEVER shop without a list because every time that I've ever gone in without one, I wind up buying 20 things that I don't need and coming back with a few of the things that I do need missing. It's easy to get swept up in the game of buying something because it's on sale but if you don't need it, don't buy it. You'll never use that unicorn binder anyway, even if it is 85% off!
Never buy something at the first place that you see it. ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS shop around for something before you buy it. I once bought notebooks because they were $0.75 a piece on sale and I thought that was amazing. But then, I found them somewhere else for $0.25! I know that $0.50 doesn't seem like a lot but you would be amazed at how quickly little savings like that can add up!
I absolutely hate waste but year after year I see my mom friends just throwing away school supplies at the end of the year. I just want to yell at them, "STOP DOING THAT!" You can save so much money on those highlighters and barely used colored pencils. Just buy a cheap pencil case and store them. You would be amazed at how long kids can use highlighters and pencils, don't throw them away until you have to.
Have you ever noticed that you always wind up with extra things because you have to buy a package of something instead of just one? I have. So why not swap with other moms, trade your extras for theirs and save both of you a little bit of dough? Instead of buying a 2 pack of highlighters and erasers, make a plan with another mom to buy one package of highlighters and trade her a highlighter for an eraser (this is just an example, you don't have to trade erasers and highlighters).
Well ladies, these are my money saving tips for back to school shopping. What do you do to keep the cost of back to school shopping from getting out of control? Let me know down below!