Super School Savings

1.  Get Organized Early

Many families make the mistake of taking their students’ supply list to a store and buying everything all at once.  The key to saving the most is to acquiring your students’ supply list early in the summer, planning your purchases and watching out for deals as they arise.

2.  Prevent Overbuying

Again, going into the buying season with a buying plan is the key to successful budgeting and savings.  As we all know, expenses, especially clothing expenses, can really add up if you’re not careful.

An easy tip to follow is to create an inventory of your kids’ clothing and school supplies, identify their needs for the upcoming school year and buy accordingly.  Some other ways to reduce overbuying can include giving each of your children a budget and having them purchase their own clothing and supplies or simply not taking your children to the store when buying back-to-school items.

3.  Use Coupons on Your Shoe Purchases

Back-to-School season is the busiest time of year for shoe retailers, meaning careful shoppers will likely find a wealth of both deals and coupons.  Scout out the ever-popular “Buy 1, Get a Second Pair Half-Off” deals and use coupons with these purchases to further reduce the purchase price of your shoes.

4.  Seek Out Stores with Price Matching Policies

Shopping around can be a real pain, but you may be able to minimize the amount of shopping trips by taking advantage of price matching policies.  Make sure to research the price matching policies for your local stores in advance.  (Walmart, for example, will price match for prices found anywhere in the country, while other stores do not.)

5.  Skip the Back-to-School Shopping Season

Clothes and certain other items will most certainly go on sale, so why not wait a few weeks?  You may even be able to combine sale prices with coupons.

6.  Use Online Coupon Codes

Several websites list promotional codes for use in online shopping.  Check out www.retailmenot.com and search for your favorite stores.  Most stores will have at least one promotional code available at all times.

Do you have tips of your own?  Please feel welcome to list them below in the comments section!