For Slickdeals.net, I share my favorite ways to save money and pay off your bills quickly on Good Morning Washington on ABC in DC.  

  1. Take Stock

Don’t buy a thing before you take inventory of what you already have. You kids may have notebooks, pencils or folders that they never used last year, so you can check those off your list. And while they may have outgrown their pants from last year, they may have plenty of shirts that still fit.

 

  1. Buy in Bulk

Put your Costco or Sam’s Club membership to good use and buy basic school supplies in bulk. You can save a bundle on pencils, pens, notebooks and folders this way. No membership? Try Boxed.com or the Boxed app (free). They offer price club prices without the membership.

 

  1. Wait

Buy all the supplies on your teacher’s list, but hold off on buying too many clothes. Why? Your child might spot an intriguing trend at school and you’ll want a little wiggle room in your budget for that. Also, while the Back to School sales are good now, they’ll be even better once school starts so you’ll save a bundle at the clearance racks.

 

  1. Get Cash Back…

…without thinking about it. Download the free DOSH cash back app and link it to your credit cards. As you shop – online or in-store – it automatically seeks out cash back deals for you. You can opt to transfer those funds to your bank account or to charity!

 

  1. No matter how smart of a shopper you are, you’re still going to have a Back to School bill to pay. You don’t want to let that interest pile up, so pay what you can every month, but also trying link your credit card account to Qoins ($1.99 per month). When you use your card, Qoins will round up your purchase and then send payment to your account of choice every month. You’ll be surprised by how quickly you pay off your debt and it won’t hurt a bit.

 

  1. The Best Deals in One Place

And before you shop for anything, check Slickdeals.net or the Slickdeals app on your phone. This company, which I work with, has 10mm deal seekers voting on and vetting deals. The strongest deals are on their Front Page and you can also search by category or retailer and set deal alerts – which is a great feature especially for bigger ticket items.