10 Back to School Shopping Tips to Save the Most Money This Year

Reuse and recycle

Unless your kids are going crazy over their school supplies, there are probably things from the school year you can salvage. Their backpack and lunchbox might just need a good wash, and there are probably folders, pens, and pencils you can reuse. I’ve even been able to pull unused pages out of spiral notebooks to use as loose sheets of paper next year. (Save the trees!)

Invest in durable equipment

Sometimes you really get what you pay for. I am a huge fan of LL Bean backpacks after mine went through high school, college and And Graduate school. My daughters are both on their second – we bought small ones when they started elementary school and then large ones when they started middle school. They cost more initially, but it pays for itself when you don’t have to buy a new one every few years.

(Fun money-saving tip: If your child is into characters, you can always decorate a plainer backpack with inexpensive stickers, patches or keychains—these can be swapped out as your child’s tastes change.)

Buy back to school clothes online

Not only will you avoid those “must-have” bonus buys, but with a little searching you can save a fortune with coupon codes and sites like Rakuten that give you cash back on purchases at many stores (including popular back-to-school fashion brands like Old Navy, Children’s Place and Target).

Minimize your back-to-school shopping now

Your kids won’t be wearing that cute sweater anytime soon—you’ll probably have at least a month of summer weather for your kids to wear their favorite shorts and t-shirts. Waiting a few weeks lets them see what’s in style, so you’ll make fewer purchases that sit in the back of the closet—and you won’t have to worry about a growth spurt this month turning the new jeans into capris while they’re still wearing their summer shorts. (And bonus: those back-to-school clothes will be on sale to make room for the holiday stuff!)

Focus your time and effort on expensive items

Running to five different stores to save 50 cents on notebooks or crayons is not a good use of your time or energy. Focus on saving money on higher-priced items (lunch boxes, calculators, computers, and clothing) to get more for your money.

Compare your shopping list with the sales brochures

Have a calculator handy and use the sales brochures to work out how much supplies you need. Do your shopping in no more than two places to minimize the hassle of walking all over town.

Avoid disposable items

Plastic school lunch bags may be cheap to start with, but you’ll have to keep refilling them. (And don’t forget what all those bags do to the environment!) To save the planet (and your wallet), buy reusable lunch boxes for sandwiches and snacks.

And you can even do this with notebooks. Give your teen a Rocketbook notebook where they can take notes, use the app to upload them to Google Drive or another file storage service, then wipe them down with a damp microfiber cloth and reuse them. (Bonus: never worry about lost notes again!)

Buy Plain and DIY

You’ll pay more for the fancier school supplies. I like to buy plain white folders or simple folders and let my kids get creative and make collages to dress them up. (This makes it easier for them to spot their things in a sea of ​​school supplies.)

Save on equipment for extracurricular activities

This time of year, there are plenty of deals on glue sticks—but not always on lacrosse sticks. (And let’s face it: those extracurricular costs can really add up!)

Look for used gear on sites like Facebook Marketplace, Play It Again Sports, eBay, or Craigslist. Chances are you’ll find some very well-preserved items at a significant discount. Thanks to Facebook, I was able to give my youngest child three seasons of cleats for just a few dollars and snag very inexpensive musical instruments for both kids on eBay.

Let your children create their own wish lists

I always take care of the basics, but when my kid wanted a disco ball for his locker, I wasn’t willing to spend $15 on that little thing. Teach your kids the value of money by either setting aside a small budget to spend on fun things or school supplies, or by letting your kids buy the things themselves with their allowance, birthday money, or other savings. (It was so weird how quickly my kid grew to dislike the disco ball when it came to his own money.)