Back-to-School Shopping: Tips to Trim Your Spend
If you’ve procrastinated over doing your child’s back-to-school shopping because inflation has made the task seem about as fun as a trip to the dentist, you might be in luck. Learn how waiting until after the summer back-to-school sales and others tips can help you save.
Don’t buy everything at once. If you are already running behind on your back-to-school shopping you may be in luck. It’s likely there are items on the list from your child’s school that won’t be needed immediately—if at all. Ask teachers which items can be put on the back burner until prices cool off. Electronics, in particular, tend to come down significantly in price after Labor Day. Clothing price tags tend to fall in, well, the fall. Waiting also has the added benefit of spreading the total financial burden of sending kids back to school over a few months.
Inventory what you have before you buy more. If you’re like everyone else who has ever shopped, you’ve bought an item only to realize later you already had it at home. So before you start spending, look first in your storage areas at home. Many young people now embrace reducing, reusing and recycling, so get them involved in the hunt, too.
Using online tools to reach your goals is a great way to stay under budget. Saving big on your back-to-school list could be just a few clicks away.
- Sign up for the email list of your favorite stores and follow them on social media to get immediate discounts and ongoing coupons.
- For big-ticket items, use a price-tracker, such as CamelCamelCamel for Amazon, to make an initial cost comparison and monitor any changes in price after that.
- Use a browser extension, such as Honey, that automatically searches for coupons when visiting an online retailer.
- Take advantage of the sign-up bonus from cash-back shopping sites and subsequent rebates.
- To find great deals on used items for your youngster, visit the marketplace area of your favorite social media sites before you buy new.
Share your clothing spending limit with your child. Clothing can send the total spend for school shopping through the roof. Transparency can go a long way toward avoiding arguments and lingering hard feelings. If there are a few pricey pieces of clothing that your child absolutely must have, make sure they understand the impact that purchasing them will have on the overall clothing budget. For example, shelling out for a few high-priced items at fashionable boutiques may necessitate thrift store shopping to fill out the rest of the wardrobe. This disciplined approach can help keep your expenses inside the stratosphere and teach your child a valuable lesson about limited resources and prudent money decisions.
Band together and buy in bulk. There is strength in numbers. If you know other families with children returning to school, consider buying items in bulk together and then divvying them up to get a lower per-unit cost. To kick the savings into high gear, organize a swap event with other families that have school-age kids. Things other kids no longer want or can use (like clothes) might be perfect for your child. Spending time facilitating such efforts could put extra dollars in your pocket.
Put those gift cards that have been sitting in your wallet to use. It’s easy to forget about that gift card you once got from Aunt Maria for that big box store. It’s especially easy to forget the one from Uncle Jerome for that store you’d never even heard of before. Both can help you escape the school shopping blues. Gather up all your unused gift cards and determine which can be used for school items and which can’t. For the ones that can’t be put toward educational needs, consider trading them in for cold hard cash at any websites that buy unused gift cards. Putting that dough toward your child’s must-haves can make a big difference.
With families spending on average $875 on back-to-school items in 2024, there’s a lot of room for economizing. By shopping on your schedule and taking the time to consider all your options, you can make the grade and save.