Back-to-School - Tips for Saving Money
This is the fifth in a series of blog posts about bargain hunting and ways to save money; when you spend less on the necessities in life, you and your family can use the money you’ve saved for the more important or fun things in life – vacations, a down payment on a new home, updating your interior, or some long-needed remodeling. To see all of my ‘Bargain Hunter’ posts, click here.
This week we’re taking a look at spending less on back-to-school necessities.
For most of the country, it’s back to school time; some of us (including me!) relish the idea of the kids not being home for a good portion of the day, others aren’t as thrilled, but however you feel, it means it’s time to buy all the kids’ necessary school supplies and most likely some new school clothes and shoes. When you add it all up, it can be quite expensive! But, if you take the time to check out the best deals and talk with your children about the need to stay on track with your budget, you won’t have to break the bank.
I always give my kids a set amount (if they’re old enough, it’s best to actually give them the cash because they can watch it dwindle and will be much more likely to be stingy if it’s “their money” – Erring on the side of caution, I hold each of my kids’ envelopes with their names on it in my purse, giving it to them when it is time to pay for their purchases). Even young children who understand some math (perhaps 3rd grade and older) can understand that if they spend less on each item, they will get more items with their allotted amount of money. For example, this year, my three teenagers were given $150 to spend; if they spent less, they would be allowed to keep the difference, definitely a great motivator for staying within budget.
The first thing we do every year is check Goodwill and a couple of re-sale shops in the area (our favorite is one whose proceeds go to help our local homeless shelter) to see if they have anything the kids are interested in; sometimes they can find great jeans for $6 – $8, some tees, and maybe a nice jacket. Goodwill and re-sale shops are particularly excellent places to purchase winter coats if you go early enough in the season.
We then gather the ads from the paper and peruse them to see if any of the stores have items the kids might be interested in and, if so, whether or not the store offers coupons or has any excellent sales going on. This year, my three decided that JCPenney’s looked like it probably would have some items they would like. There was also a 20% coupon available, and the items on sale that were advertised seemed to be priced well. They were also interested in specific stores as well, so we got online to compare prices.
PacSun had jeans priced “Two for $55.00″ – not great, but certainly a fairly decent price (when you’re talking to a picky teenager, that is), but Zumiez had a better deal of two jeans and three tees for $85. Zumiez is where my son prefers to buy his shoes, so we looked for shoes on the clearance rack; he was able to find a great pair for $40. He only intended to buy three tees, two jeans and a pair of tennis shoes, so he got just what he wanted and had $20 left over that he could spend on going to a movie or out for pizza with some friends.
My youngest also likes Hot Topic, so we price-checked their items and found they were having a “buy-one-get-one-half-off” sale on their band t-shirts, which is all she really wanted, so we went there and she was able to buy four shirts she loves for $60. Again, not the best bargain on the planet, but she got exactly what she wanted and still had money left for shoes and jeans.
A great way to find bargains for particular stores is to use a site called (alexscoupons.com); you simply type in the store you’re looking for and click “find coupons”; it will take you to a coupon page and often a page which will tell you the prices of current items in the store.
Using ads and coupons as well as searching the internet for great prices on school supplies is also very helpful when you’re trying to spend as little as possible.
