Comments on: Back to School Shopping: Get What You Need and Stay Within Budget

By: kim

kim — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 04:20:37 +0000

staples is also a good store to shop at i got 10 folders for free and notebooks 5 pack for 2.00

By: Kelley

Kelley — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 13:07:54 +0000

I commented on the Work It Mom! page, but I’ll post it here too: (Excellent Article!)

I agree! My daughters (6 & 7) only need a few filler items to be completely “back to school” ready. Luckily, because they are close in age, my youngest daughter gets hand-me-downs that she is completely thrilled to have. :) My oldest daughter, frugal little miss that she is… loves bargain shopping with mommy. At the end of the school year, we go through items that no longer fit/are damaged etc., and we decide what we’ll do with them. Salvation army, uniform swap (at the beginning of the school year), garage sale, etc. After that, we go to the Salvation Army and check out what others have returned. There is often an entire rack devoted to school uniforms. I purchased 6 pairs of pants, 8 shirts and two jackets for $37. I see NO reason to spend a lot of money on clothes that they tend to mess up. I also shop on e-bay. I just recently won a bid for 8 brand new French Toast shirts for $14. That included shipping. Over the summer, I’d pick up something here or there if it was on sale, etc. As far as an item such as shoes, we generally shop at Payless and Target for their shoes. There are plenty of quality shoes there.

I run a home based business on the side, so I always have supplies. My kids go shopping in my supply cart for the school year. I rarely have to buy more than a few items for them. Even when i do, it’s normally something special on the teachers list. If I didn’t have a business, I’d probably get most of what’s on the list from the dollar store. Local convenience stores like Walgreens, CVS and Rite Aid often have GREAT deals for supplies as well. Sometimes even better than the larger stores. It’s definitely a good idea to check the ads.

Overall, there are so many things going on that we’ll have to pay for at the beginning of a school year, I’d rather save when I can and where I can.

By: 2nd Chance

2nd Chance — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 05:00:07 +0000

Darn, I wish I would have read this last week. I just went this weekend and dropped some serious full-time student non-working single mom cash on cloths for my babes. I got a good deal but now I’m just like “dang.” Well she is going into the first grade so now I know better and I will make sure to apply your tips going forward. Just to make myself feel better, my six year old daughter grows like a weed, she is 4′10″ and wearing size 8 for height not girth. So I guess I do need to keep updating her warobe, but I can do more to save money… thanks for the tips

By: monjancal

monjancal — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 03:45:13 +0000

another way they get shoppers are the “tax free weekends” we have here in TX. People run out by the bus loads to save $5.00! It is just not worth it, the crowds are crazy and the stores are a mess! Plus it is hot here well into Oct.-Nov. (Dec. for that matter!), so the kids where shorts for a minute. Oct is when I buy a few pairs of jeans. Plus when you catch a good sale and put it aside, the kids are set. Right before the 4th of July, Dillards had a sale where the items were marked down 40% plus for 3 days it was an additional 30% off, so for 2 kids I got 18 items for $100.00! Also if parents look at what their kids wear to school, no matter how much clothes you buy them, they seem to love to wear the same thing over and over. Sometimes I send mine back into their rooms to change! ” Didn’t you just have that on last week! LOL!

By: Emma

Emma — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 21:48:29 +0000

By the time I was in 9th grade, I was buying all my own things for back to school, so I didn’t have to take dibs on who would get the 1 red pen in a pack (or other things like that) from when my mom picked up school supplies for the three of us. She never spent more than $50 for the three of us though.

And by the time I got to university, my “back to school shopping” consisted of picking up 2 “5 subject” notebooks and a sharpie if I can’t find the one from when I last moved back to res. Nothing more. There are a heck of a lot freebies that can be found on campus, and I still have a mountain of pens/pencils that I am trying to get rid of!