Are you determined to not spent $100 a child on back to school supplies for each child this year? Are you not satisfied with the quality of the prepackaged school supplies you can buy from the schools? I am here to help you this year buy ALL your kids school supplies this year for $20 a child or less!
The sure fire way to spend $100 a child: Buy all your school supplies the day or few days before school starts. Frantically run from store to store and find they are all sold out and start buying just whatever you can find at that point.
How to spend $20 or less on school supplies – Walmart Back to School Deals
- Print the Back To School Supply List
- Get your kids school supply lists
- Add the items into the spreadsheet (one sheet for ALL your kids)
- Watch the sales for the next 5-6 weeks
- If it is less then Walmarts price at any store, buy it.
- If it is the same as Walmarts price wait a few weeks and see if it goes lower anywhere
- About a week before your school starts, the things you are still missing, buy them at Walmart
- Cross off items as you get them, so you are not overbuying
One other you can do? Go through their school supplies that they brought home from school in May and see what they can reuse. My wife keeps a Rubbermaid bucket that on the last day of school all the supplies they bring home go right into the bucket for the next year. It is full of rulers, unused folders, pencils, erasers and markers. We always go through this box to see what we have for the school supply list first, then see what we need new.
Other ways to save:
- Follow my Back To School Pinterest Board
- Bookmark me Back To School section for all the most current back to school deals!
- Connect with me on Facebook and share the deals that you find
You can also watch my video if you are a visual person, this explains it well:
Another idea on saving money on school supplies: IF you absolutely have to wait until the week before school starts, wait a bit longer until you get to meet the teacher and ask what supplies the child MUST have for the first weeks of school. Ask the teacher if she could send a reminder when things need to be replenished. Then you can spread out the cost and buy other things later as needed. No student needs 3 bottles of glue or 2 packs of crayons to start the school. Those are just being stored somewhere. I am a teacher that stores things all year long and gets to the end wondering why we (collective group of teachers) had so many of certain items on the list, but not enough of others.
I wish I had thought of the rubbermaid tote idea! I just got my kids school list and about choked! I will have 2 in 5th and one in 6th and they each need two boxes of kleenex (big box) and two pairs of scissors. Really? They did need that much when they were in the younger grades! Also, 2 reams of paper each and so so much more! I will be looking for the scissors. I just can’t imagine why they need two pairs each at that grade level??? Lol…I showed my mom the list and she said they forgot the kitchen sink! lol..I am only HOPING I can keep it under $20..but each also has to have their own flash drive too….that will take a bite out of it!
Or buy everything at Target now after you go thru all your stockpile, they prices are close to low right now. I buy every 5 cents or penny deal and put in stockpile since I am a teacher. Currently ruler 52 cents, only had to get one since his school requires a wood ruler, seriously have 35 rulers all plastic. Index cards are cheapest there at .49 , colored pencils .94, construction paper 2.04, plastic folders with brads .97 (they ones that go on sale are never the plastic ones), hand pencil sharpener .69, 10 pack pencils .47 and cool eraser is dollar spot for 1.00 all right now. Keep receipt and take it back if price changes. Honestly I tried to cut school supplies to there lowest running store to store when I started teaching but these prices are within pennies of the cheapest they get and you can be done now!