The Top 5 Ways to Save on Back to School Shopping

You’ve just received an impossibly long list of supplies from the school and your kids have grown out of most of their clothes. Back to School shopping is a necessary evil, but that doesn’t mean it has to cost a fortune. I share my advice with PIX11’s Betty Nguyen on how to save money on everything your kids need for school.

 

Sell Your Stuff

I recently discovered Swap.com, which is the top site for online consignment. You can sell your kids’ gently-used clothes and then use your earning towards other clothes, backpacks and other essentials on the site. The site has over gently used 2mm items, so you’ll have plenty to choose from all at 80-90% off retail.

 

Buy in Bulk

If you have a Sam’s Club or Costco membership, you may not think of using it for school supplies, but you can find essentials, like pencils, pens, notebooks and folders at these stores. No membership? Try Boxed.com or the Boxed app. They offer price club prices without the membership fees and they ship for free.

 

Earn While You Spend 

Earning cash back is a great way to save while you’re shopping, but sometimes it takes some work to find the best deals. To make saving easy, try a browser extension like the SwagButton from SwagBucks. It takes a couple of seconds to install and then as you shop online at hundreds of stores, you’ll be alerted to available cash back offers that you simply click on to activate. You can redeem your earnings via Paypal or gift cards.

 

Create Your Own Sale

No sale on an item you need for Back to School? Never fear! Use a site like Gift Card Granny to look for discounted gift cards. By shopping with a discounted gift card for Target, Amazon, or wherever else you plan to shop, you’ll automatically save between 2-30%, sale or no sale.

 

Get Carded

Students and teachers, if you have a school I.D., don’t forget to use it.  Countless retailers, like Microsoft and Apple, offer discounts when you present your I.D. (Gift Card Granny has a comprehensive list). And to save even more, set a deal alert for any item on deal site Slickdeals.net for the best deals. If you’re not sure what you want, set an alert for “Back to School” to be privy of all the best deals.