Cut Your Grocery Bill In Half! with Stephanie Nelson, The Coupon Mom
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Back to School Saving Strategies     

 

by Stephanie Nelson 
July 11, 2007  

 

Back to school shopping can put a big dent in most of our budgets, but you can get great deals and take advantage of free coupons if you take the time to plan and research before you shop.   

 

Save by coming up with a game plan:  Before you start shopping, sit down and plan what you need to buy with your student.  Listen to what your student wants, review what you already have, and make a specific list of what they need to buy in the short term.    

 

·        Inventory your students’ clothes:  Inventory your child’s current wardrobe and sort out the items that are too small or never get worn at all and donate them to a local charity to help their clients.  Older children’s acceptable outgrown clothes can go to a younger sibling, if possible.  After determining the number of acceptable outfits you already have on hand, you can make a realistic list of specific items you need to buy.  I did this with both of my sons and learned they had more clothes than they realized, and they had plenty of outfits for this time of year.  My younger son was thrilled to get three new shirts that his brother had outgrown.  They decided to spend their new clothes money later in the season when the weather gets cooler.

 

· Take advantage of summer clearance racks.  Get a new outfit appropriate for the weather at the beginning of the school year by shopping seasonal clearance racks.  Combine low sale prices with coupons to really save on your child’s new outfits.  Watch for special promotions in the newspaper ad circulars.  Check coupon code websites like

 

www.couponmom.com for printed coupons or online codes at your favorite retailers.

 

·Buy school clothes later in the year:  Wait until a few weeks into the school year to stock up on new clothes, to take advantage of later-in-the-season sales and to give your child time to see what new styles they like.  Do not overbuy, which is easy to do before you see what your children like. Once the school year is going for a few weeks you can sit down with your child and plan what they need and prefer. 

 

· Look for advertising circulars in the newspaper for your stores.  Many will have generous coupons in addition to sale prices.

 

· Check your store websites for coupons and promotions.  Sign up for their email newsletter to get special coupons and discounts.

 

·Check sites and print free coupons from outlet mall websites.  Use a search engine to find the site for the mall nearest to your home. 
 

 

·        Buying shoes:  The back to school season is the busiest time of year for shoe sales.  As a result, stores have many special promotions to get our attention.  Because common promotions are “buy one pair, get the second pair 50% off” it makes sense to take all of your children shoe shopping together.  If you can find a coupon to use along with special promotions, you will really save. 
 

 

·        Check out shoe store websites where you can print a free coupon for stores immediately after signing up for the email newsletter such as rackroomshoes.com, payless.com, shoecarnival.com, and keycode.com. 

 

·        If you know the size and style of shoe you need, check online shoe retailers for bargain prices, such as zappos.com.  With free shipping included and a 365-day return policy, you may save time and money.

 

·        School Supplies:  Take advantage of price matching for school supplies.  Basic school supplies are at their lowest price at this time of year (50-75% off).  Check the advertising circulars for grocery stores, drugstores, office supply stores and even dollar stores.  Find the lowest advertised price for every item that you need, circle the item and price in each circular, and take all of the circulars to the closest store that “price matches,” meaning they will honor any other store’s lower price.  Call stores ahead of time to ask if they price match.  For example, if you have a Walmart store in your area, they have a national price matching policy.  However, many stores will match competitors’ prices if you ask.  You will save time, money and gas!

   

·        Backpacks:  For younger children, the $5 backpacks on sale at discount and drugstores may be all they need.  As students get older, it may be worth investing in a higher quality backpack to last several years.  Last year I bought both of my sons good quality backpacks, which are in perfectly good shape for this year.  You can expect a good backpack to last a few years and provide the necessary support and padding for heavier books.   
 

Stephanie Nelson shares her savings tips as a regular contributor for  many local news shows.   You can find more of her savings tips in her book  “The Greatest Secrets of the Coupon Mom” and on her website at 

www.couponmom.com