5 Ways to Save on Back to School Shopping

Although school has already started for many kids, I thought I would share some tips on ways to save money during this time of year. Even though you may notice folders that are 50 cents and 25 cents glue sticks, having to purchase so many school supplies can definitely add up. Check out the ways I save money on Back-to-School shopping below.

1. Gather Sales Ads

Once I have the school supply lists, I always start to keep an eye out on the sales ads. I usually look out for ads for school supplies, clothing, and shoes. I always gather Walmart and Target sales ads for school supplies. For clothing and shoes, I check out The Children's Place, Kids Footlocker, Payless, Gymboree, and Toys R Us.

Sometimes, I even check online for sales ads. There's this amazing website called Southern Savers that teaches you how to coupon, has specific store sales ads (they even have unadvertised deals for some stores), coupons, and a Sunday paper coupon insert schedule.

2. Use Coupons

You may want to purchase the Sunday newspaper for the coupon inserts. The past few weeks, I have found some coupons for school supplies. If you get random mailers in your mailbox, don't throw them away. I found a lot of coupon inserts in them and there were tons of coupons for back to school shopping.

3. Buy Generic

You don't have to get name brand school supplies. Most school supply lists have the words "Suggested Supply List" at the top so don't feel pressured to buy brand name products. Often times, you may not find the exact brand that is listed on the school supply list so just get the generic brand. I purchased some generic "Pink Pearl" erasers at Walmart for nearly half the price of the brand name erasers.

4. Use Reward Programs 

So many of the stores that I shop at have reward programs. I highly recommend that you sign up for them because many stores will email or mail exclusive coupons. Sometimes you may even be able to find out about sales before everyone else.

Some of my favorite reward programs are Toys R Us, The Children's Place, and Payless. You can sign up for the Toys R Us reward program at Rewards R Us or at your local Toys R Us and Babies R Us store. You can learn more about The Children's Place rewards program here. You can also learn more about the Payless rewards program here.

I also love to use Ibotta. Ibotta is such a great way to get cash back for buying items. Before you shop, you add rebates and complete tasks. Then you simply purchase the items at participating stores. You redeem your rebates by scanning your receipt.

I also recommend Target's Cartwheel app. You can save so much money on everyday items, seasonal items, clothing and shoes. The cartwheel app currently has a section specifically for Back to School and Back to College.

5. Sign up for email lists

Every store that I have listed so far has an email list. I always get sales ads, coupons, and even birthday rewards from several of my favorite stores. I definitely recommend that you sign up for your favorite stores' email lists.

How do you save on Back-to-School shopping? 

Thanks for visiting!

Until next time...

*Please note that some of the links above are referral links.*