Things You'll Need:
- newspaper ads from Walmart, Target or another type of discount store.
- Your school's required supplies list.
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Step 1
Shop the ads - depending on what time of year you hit the stores, you can get school supplies for dirt cheap. During the month of August, when back to school ads are in full swing, places like Walmart sell glue for pennies. Look through your newspaper to get and idea of the prices for school supplies, then hit when the sales start.
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Step 2
Stock up - chances are, your child will need to restock their pencil case during the year with fresh glue, pencils, erasers and notebooks. While the sales are on, buy a couple extra of each item to have on hand at home when needed.
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Step 3
Back packs/Lunch bags - Here is where the fashion comes into play! Your child will undoubtedly have an opinion about their new back to school clothes, backpack, lunch bag, even themed folders. Use your bargaining skills. Give your child one or two items that they can "splurge" on, and they must agree to let you budget the rest. This way, they can get the nicer backpack they love, and you can try to find money saving opportunities on other items.
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Step 4
Check out www.schooltoolbox.com. Target has a school supply program that your school can participate in. Each teacher provides their required supply list for the following year, then Target packages all the supplies and they are boxed up and waiting for each child in their classrooms the first day of school. The pricing is great, and it alleviates sometimes painful school supply shopping. See my article at www.ehow.com/how_4452673_toolbox-program-buy-school-supplies.html for more information about Target's program.
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Step 5
Spread the word - let people know you who work in offices that you are school shopping. Many offices purchase certain types of supplies for presentations and then get rid of the unused portion. You may be able to get excess supplies donated to you by an office that wouldn't otherwise be using them (think poster board, binders, manila folders and other presentation oriented supplies).
