How to Prepare For Back to School

Get ready, parents, it's that time of year again. Summer break is coming to a close soon, which means school will be back in session. It's time to gear up for back to school shopping. Here are our ways to save!

Tax Free Weekend

Absolutely wait to buy qualified items until tax-free weekend! Tax-free weekend varies state to state, and isn't in every single state. Most states that have these holidays have a tax-free weekend in late July and early August. These holidays feature tax reductions and eliminations on items like clothing, electronics, certain school supplies, and more. These events are statewide and for everyone — these reductions are automatically done when you purchase qualifying items during the holiday. 

If your state doesn't have a tax-free weekend, don't worry. If you live close to the border of a state that does feature such a holiday, consider taking a day trip into the neighboring state and shopping for your school supplies there during their tax free weekend. If that's not possible, keep reading! There are plenty of ways to save. 

See What You Already Have

Chances are, your kids have leftover supplies from years past that were never even touched. Take stock before you shop — if they already have unused folders and notebooks, count the number of these items you have and remember it when you shop. Have your kids use everything that wasn't used last year and then buy whatever else is left that they need. 

Check Dollar Stores

Don't spend more than you absolutely need to for simple items. Most big box retailers offer certain items for a few cents, but not all items are priced at a dollar or lower. For items you know you can source for a dollar elsewhere, buy them there. I recommend getting those items sooner rather than later, as dollar stores often run out of stock faster than big box stores around this time of year. Remember, some prices will be better at the big box retailers, so shop mindfully. 

Focus on Saving on the Big Stuff

The items you want to strategize the most for are the more expensive items, like electronics and clothing. Watch different retailers for sales and deals. Many retailers will feature sales and send out coupons during the back to school season. 

Shop at clothing retailers during these sales events and buy what you need then. See if coupons are stackable on top of the savings event, too. 

As for electronics, compare various retailers to find the absolute lowest price for what you need. You may not always be able to use a coupon on high ticket items like laptops, but you can buy them during sales events. 

Don't Buy Extras

This seems obvious, but remember that when you take your kids with you, sometimes they see fun items they want to add to the list that aren't needed. It's hard to say no, but encourage the use of allowance if they want something off of the list or encourage them to choose fun colors and designs for items they do need to keep things fun. 

Let them know before you go shopping that everyone needs to stick to their list, but encourage that creativity and choice for those items.