It’s that time of year again. All you seem to notice when you head to the store are the huge bins filled with pens, pencils, and notebooks. There seems to be a sale or a deal on all those school supplies everywhere, but how do you know what’s the best deal?
- Watch for loss leaders at the office supply stores. They are generally on the front page of the ad. If you watch starting around the end of July all the way through August you can get everything from pens to erasers for as little as free after rebate or $0.01 - $0.10 an item. Generally these things have a limit per visit but no one is saying you can’t visit every day…J
- Don’t feel like you need to spend the extra money on brand name supplies, or character supplies. The folder with Elmo on it might be cute but so is the pink one that you can decorate with stickers that you have laying around in your junk drawers at home.
- Price match. Can’t make it all the way across town to get the deal you want? Both Walmart and Target will price match as long as you have the ad and they have the same item. That means you could take both the Office Max and Office Depot ad to Walmart, and get all of the deals, in one place and in one shopping trip saving you time and gas.
- Watch for coupons. Around back to school time, companies like 3M, Bic, ect, will start rolling out some high value coupons. Often these can be matched up with a great sale to make the items free. Sign up for the periodic emails from companies that make school and office supplies to you make sure to get any coupons they send out, right in your inbox.
- Don’t shop during back to school shopping season at all, shop after. This is something you can do for next year. Each year when I purchase office supplies, I always wait for back to school sales to end. Stores clearance out what they have left and you can get items for rock bottom prices. Last year I paid $0.02 per spiral bound notebook. I bought 30 of them. Think ahead and shop smart, keep extra supplies for next year in a plastic storage tote so they stay safe and dry.
So watch for sales, shop smart, price match to save time and gas. Happy back to school shopping!
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{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
Do you know when stores typically start discounting their back to school supplies? Is it sometime in September?
I would say around the 3rd week or end of September, they bigger stores will start clearancing because they want to get the Halloween out!
I am addicted to buying school/office supplies! My kids hardly even use a fraction of what I buy each year, but I do it every fall… ;o)
We homeschool so I buy enough to last the whole year while everything is cheap in August.