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5 Ways To Save on Back To School Shopping for Clothes and Supplies

Back to school shopping for clothes and supplies does not have to be expensive! Prepare for the kids to go back to school on a budget, learn how to get all of the essentials without breaking the bank with these back to school savings tips!5 Ways To Save on Back To School Shopping for Clothes and Supplies - back to school offers and how to back to school shop

Start back to school shopping for clothes and supplies

Back to school already?! YES! Walkthrough any store and you’ll see it, the school supplies have been out for a few weeks. I’m not ready for it. NOPE. Summer can’t be coming to an end! I guess this means it’s time for the inevitable: BACK TO SCHOOL SHOPPING!

Back to school clothes sales

If you’re anything like me, you are not trying to spend your entire fortune on back-to-school clothes and supplies. It’s time to get smart about it, folks. Don’t pay full price for all of the top trendy, brand-name products out there. You can definitely get everything your kids need on a budget, trust me. After you’ve done a full inventory of your current clothing, supplies, and their conditions, make a list of essentials for each child and stick to it. Here’s how to save money on back to school shopping for clothes and supplies…

Back to school shopping for clothes and supplies

5 Ways To Get Back To School Savings When Shopping

1. When does back-to-school shopping start?

Late July – early August is when you need to start shopping. You will get a jump on all of the sales and back-to-school offers and won’t have to battle with last minute shoppers. Get the sizes and styles you want when you go ahead of the pack. Most people that I know wait until the last week or so in August to shop. Don’t do it! Plus, there are end-of-summer sales going on now that have perfectly good tees, pants, shoes, and sweaters that can be worn during the Fall and Winter months.

You can also shop later. Contradictory, no? I realize it is, but if you wait until the end of the back to school rush, say late September, stores will mark down all of the excess items that you can grab for a steal. If you wait, you may be able to hold off on purchasing the less important items on your list till then, but I recommend that you do not delay.

2. Don’t ignore a good clothing sale, visit the clearance section

If you want to know how to back to school shop with discounts galore, visit the clearance section in your local stores. Although most items will be the last of the summer clothing, there are always a few gems that can be worn all season. Lots of times, the clearance section is a store may have a jacket that’s considered “old” because it was a style from last year. Scoop it up! Target always has a great clearance section, one of my favorites.

Also, grab a few items from next summer in a size up. You’ll thank me, I do this every year and I have a complete spring and summer wardrobe for my kids for the next year, usually for 60-80% off of the original price.

3. Consider thrifting, bartering, and hand me downs

When you’re back to school shopping for clothes, do they HAVE to be brand new? You’ve got friends and your friends have friends, and you know a bunch of the parents at your child’s school, am I right? Chances are that they have various kids at various ages and stages and you could all totally barter! Set up a clothing exchange ring before school starts, and visit your local thrift shop to find gently used clothing at decent prices.

Also, Craigslist is your friend. Navigate to your city and see the number of listings by people who want to get rid of their stuff. As long as you meet in a safe, public place, you can score some great items on the cheap!

colored pencils for school

4. Repurpose and reuse your school supplies

Revisit all of your items from previous years. Is the backpack still usable, maybe it just needs a good cleaning? Do you have pencils and crayons at home that just need to be sharpened? Are there lots of pages left in that spiral notebook? You can definitely use items that still have life in them. Take a look around, back to school savings on supplies starts here!

5. Shop at discount and bulk market stores or online

Discount and bulk stores give you more for your money. For clothing and backpacks, I like TJ Maxx, Marshalls, Target, and The Children’s Place for elementary-age kids. If you plan to do your back to school shopping online, I am also a fan of deal sites like Living Social and Groupon. The selection is limited to the brands that they have on sale during that time period, but there are plenty of great things that you can get for great prices. The Gymboree sale section is always great, and Tea Collection has SUPER CUTE clothes, too, and they have a great sale section!

Walmart and Dollar Tree are great for supplies, their prices are low and you can get lots of items for a fraction of the cost at other stores. These stores are also good places to grab off-brand items. Same with Target, they are usually pretty cute and of good quality, for just a fraction of the price!

Back to school shopping online - girl on the first day of school

How do you save on back to school shopping for clothes and supplies?

The summertime has been so much fun, and I know, I am not ready to go back to school shopping for clothes and supplies, either! Don’t delay, because the back-to-school shopping season is coming and you’ve gotta be ready. Keep your eyes peeled for back to school offers and let us know in the comments if you find anything awesome. We need all the help we can get to ease into the transition from summer to school (these on kids make ahead lunches for school might help)!


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3 Comments

  • I am a frequent reader of your blog, so wanted to give back and share a tip about MyHabit shopping: you can use a site called “SortedBy” to quickly find the best available deals on MyHabit. It sorts all sales by discount or price and has a good search function.

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