Schools

Save Money on Back-to-School

School supplies shopping? Here's some tips to save a little money.

Jill Cataldo is the queen of super couponing. Her Web site gives you a ton of suggestions to save money. Fairly prominant on the site right now are tips on how to save money when shopping for back-to-school.

Some of you are probably done shopping, but plenty of others might still need to pick up some supplies. Plus, it never hurts to pick up a few extra to consider donating to school supply drives, like this one in Plainfield.

In any case, here are some tips on how to save money while shopping for back to school:

  1. "Do not buy your child’s entire list of school supplies in the same store," Cataldo said on her site.
    She suggests watching ads for the items that are on sale that particular week and to keep watching for the best sales. 
  2. Don't buy all the back-to-school clothes before school starts. This applies more to students without dress codes. Your child's style could change or they could decide they need to dress more like or less like their friends. If you wait a couple weeks to buy all the new clothes, you might have a better chance at catching a sale.
  3. "If you have store-specific retailer credit cards, ask your store if they’re currently running any discounts tied to them," Cataldo said on her site. But don't fall for the introductory percentage off if you don't already have the card as that may cost you more in the long run.
  4. Shop online. Often stores that have brick and mortar locations will have different sales online.
  5. If you are using a credit card, do so wisely. More information on how to do that can be found here.


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