Like many other families caught in the pinch of hard times, this year we are really having to watch our spending with those back-to-school supplies for the kids. Trendy notebooks and designer school supplies just aren’t a option for us, much to the disappointment of my kids who rather prefer something with colorful graphics emblazoned all over the cover.
Fortunately, we were able to reach a compromise and managed to find all our school supplies including a Jansen backpack for less than $30. The secret was shopping the sales, getting the kids involved in the purchasing process, and thinking “outside” of the (pencil) box. Here’s how we managed to buy our school supplies on the cheap while keeping the kids happy.
Shopping for “loss leaders”
Discount and office supply stores are in hot competition for your spending dollars, with all stores offering cheap promotional gimmicks to get you into the store. These promotional gimmicks are called “loss leaders” because they lose money for the store. The loss however is offset by the other stuff the retailers hope you will buy.
The best place to find out about these cheap school supplies is in the Sunday paper advertising circulars. Have your kids circle those “loss leaders” that are part of the back-to-school supply list and then together make a shopping loop that includes all those stores. To make a game of it, I handed my daughter a $5 bill after she identified the loss leaders in our area, and suggested she see how far she could make that money go.
In most cases, those “loss leaders” tend to be the basic supplies that all kids need for school. At Office Depot for example, their loss leaders last week included 24 ct crayon boxes, pencil boxes, pencil sharpeners, and 12″ rulers at the bargain price of one cent each. Other stores in our shopping loop were selling protractors, file folders, erasers, and 4 packs of mechanical pencils for 5¢. We found bagged 10 count Bic pens for 25¢, notebook paper at three bundles for a $1, composition books and spiral notebooks for 25¢ each, and Elmer’s Glue for 20¢.
Shopping the loss leaders can save significant amounts of money of school supplies, especially if you can discipline yourself to avoid the higher price goods in the store.
Explore discount outlets
For discounted backpacks, factory outlets tend to offer up the best bargains in town. High quality Jansen school packs turn up at our local VF outlet between $8 and $20. My daughter found a fabulous plaid backpack for $10 which originally retailed for $45.
It’s been our experience to avoid the “no name” backpack brands and stick with recognizable label. A $10 backpack isn’t a bargain if it breaks in a couple of months.
Think “plain”
Plain school supplies tend to be much cheaper than their colorful and trendy counterparts and work just as well. Of course, they aren’t nearly as exciting but that isn’t an impossible problem to solve if you have a craft box.
… Plain yellow pencils can be decorated with Scribbles dimensional paint or Elmer glitter glue to turn them into something special. Lightening bolts and dots are easy embellishments that most kids can manage.
… To decorate a plain pencil box, use stickers, plain white dots, glitter glue and paint sticks to add pizzaz. Decoupaged images will also work for kids who are into character gear.
… Instead of spending $2 for a decorated folder, we bought several plain colored folders for 5¢ each and decoupaged celebrity photographs from an old Tiger Beat magazine. My daughter added a few stickers and used her glitter glue to paint in hearts and other embellishments for a custom look. This technique will also work for those plain colored spiral notebooks and composition books.
…Designer binders are very expensive, but plain versions are very affordable. We turned in some printer cartridges for recycling at a local office store and used the rebate to purchase a white binder with the clear plastic sleeve. For an additional $1, my daughter bought a couple of sheets of colorful scrapbook page to create a totally custom binder.
Be patient
Everything goes on sale sometime, and if you are having to purchase something like a scientific calculator or specialty item, it’s best to watch the sales and wait for the coupons. As retailers madly compete for your cash, those special promotions and coupons will start appearing on a regular basis, and can be used to bring down the cost of an expensive back-to-school item.
For families on a tight budget, buying school supplies on the cheap is not an impossible task. By watching the sales, paying attention to the loss leaders, and avoiding the designer gear, you will be able to send your kids back-to-school in style without derailing your budget.
