The school bell will be ringing soon but summer activities have kept your family far too busy to find time to shop for school supplies. Don’t panic if you notice the store shelves looking a little bare: There are still some really great deals to find and you can easily get all of your back-to-school needs filled.
If you have a list of all the school supplies your children need, you can get started immediately with your shopping. But if you haven’t thought about creating a list, take the time to do so before spending any money. This will allow you to avoid over shopping for supplies or missing something important. Once you have your list in hand, try these tips for saving money and finding great back-to-school supply deals.
1. Compare prices ”“ Head to the websites of your favorite stores to compare prices on school supplies. Many will be holding back-to-school specials on paper supplies and backpacks. It’s much easier to view several websites and make price comparisons together, rather than driving from store to store. Be sure to check the company’s shipping costs and calculate them in before buying.
2. Coupons and discounts ”“ Take your online shopping one step further using sites like Ebates.com, which provide you with coupon codes and discount information for many popular stores that sell school supplies. Ebates.com takes the savings the extra distance by giving you a percentage of your purchase price back as cash when you’re done shopping. You can use that savings for other school year expenses for your children or put it back in your pocket for something fun for yourself.
3. Stay home in the air conditioning ”“ With online shopping, you don’t have to leave the house. Have the supplies delivered to your door and you can breathe a sigh of relief that your back-to-school shopping task is completed for the year.
4. Bulk shopping ”“ If you have multiple children or have supplies that will need replacing throughout the school year, look for bulk deals. Pencils, notebooks, crayons and many other supplies will appear on shopping lists year after year and a bulk supply could potentially last your family for a long time, helping you to save money.
Last-minute shopping for back-to-school supplies does not mean you’re out of luck in finding deals. For more savings tips, find suggestions posted on the Ebates.com Twitter account.
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