The Top Seven Best Money Saving Tips for Back-To-School Shopping
As the new school year approaches, it’s important to ensure that your children have everything they need to get through their classes. While it is stressful, back-to-school shopping can be a lot of fun, especially if you involve your children in the process to get their opinions and ideas. The problem is that back-to-school shopping gets very expensive very quickly. To get all of the items on your shopping list without winding up with an empty wallet, follow these tips.
Differentiate Between Needs and Wants
One benefit of budgeting is that it helps you determine if you have the resources to spend on items that you want versus those you need.
- Start by making a list of things you’d like to save up for.
- Identify whether each item on the list is something you absolutely need or is really a want.
- If you decide you want something, ask yourself if you will still be happy you bought the item in a month.
- Next, prioritize each item on the list.
- Once you have set your priorities, you can then determine whether you should incorporate each item into your budget.
Scour the House
While getting brand new things is nice, you could be wasting money by buying items that you have at home. Most people have unused school supplies such as notebooks, pencils, erasers, scissors, rulers, pens and markers lying around the house that are perfectly good for use at school. Before doing any shopping, take inventory of what you have lying around the house. It’s especially important to ask your children if they have any leftover school supplies from the previous year. Then you can adjust your list to include only the items you couldn’t find.
Shop at the Right Time
Most stores have back-to-school shopping specials starting about a month before summer ends. While you can get some really good deals during this time, you can get even better deals if you wait until a week or two into September. At this point, stores are trying to move their back-to-school items out so they can move their Halloween stock in. Clearance prices typically start at 25% to 30% off, but near the end of the sale period they can get as low as 75 percent off. The main problem with this trick is that your child will likely already be back in school by the time you get these clearance sale prices, so this is a tip best reserved for stocking up for next year.
Shop Online
Shopping in store comes with many frustrations. You can’t compare prices easily, you may have to corral your children along the way, it’s exhausting, time-consuming and they may not have the items you need in stock. Shopping online has made back-to-school shopping much easier and more convenient. You can do it at home whenever you want, from the comfort of your home, with or without your children, and you’re sure to find every item on your shopping list in stock on at least one website.
Take Advantage of Shopping Apps and Browser Extensions
When you’re back-to-school shopping online, you can save hundreds of dollars by using shopping apps and browser extensions that help you compare prices and find coupon codes. Simply install the applications, shop as you would normally and consult the app when you’re ready to purchase an item or checkout. The app will then check to see if there are any applicable coupon codes, promo codes for free shipping, sales on other websites and more to help keep your costs down.
Knowing which app or extension to use is a matter of trial and error, but it’s important to remember to keep your privacy safe. Research any app or extension for both positive and negative reviews, privacy notices and if the company or software has been linked to any viruses, information leaks or scams. Most apps and extensions, especially ones offered on official app stores, will be perfectly safe, but you can never be too careful.
Don't Rush
Your decision-making capabilities weaken when you’re feeling the pressure of a time crunch. You may think an item is too expensive, but buy it anyway because you think you’re out of time. You may also go for a low-quality item because it’s cheap and you believe you don’t have time to find anything better at a more reasonable price. Slow down, take a breath and take your time to find the right choice. You’ll always feel better about decisions made with a calm head than impulse decisions you made while in a panic.
Shop at the Dollar Store
The dollar store is a great place to find almost any school supply for a low price. Originating from the dollar store doesn’t mean that the products are low quality. In fact, many products from dollar stores are very good quality for the price, and you can find a wide array of brand name products on dollar store shelves as well.
Make a Budget and Stick to It
Setting a cap on how much you can spend for your back-to-school shopping helps prevent overspending and gives you a firm guideline on how to effectively allot your money over the various items you’ll be buying. For example, you could choose to spend much less of your budget on items that are disposable, such as loose leaf paper, pencils, tape and more while spending a little more money on bigger and more important items such as backpacks, clothes and electronics.
Back-to-school shopping is usually stressful, hectic and expensive, but it doesn’t have to be. As long as you follow these tips, you can plan out your shopping strategy, take your time, make smart choices and save hundreds of dollars.
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