A+ Back-to-School Shopping Tips

August is the unofficial start of the back-to-school shopping frenzy. To your kids, shopping for new clothes, gear, and school supplies may be the only good thing about going back to school, but that doesn’t mean you have to spend a fortune every year.

Hold off buying trendier gear. Items like lunch boxes and pencil holders follow different trends every season. Kids may love a version they find in July, but once they start school and see that their friends are all using another kind, they’ll beg you to upgrade them — and that only results in wasted cash.

Stick to the List. The teacher’s supply list at the start of a new school year is daunting enough so don’t waste time and money on unlisted items. Extra supplies, while they may be cute, will probably never get used and just leave your pockets empty. Instead, write down all the items you need to get. Try to put a price on each of them. After that, draw the line and see the total sum.

Buy colorful school supplies. If your child’s notebooks are black and blue like everyone else’s, he or she is more likely to lose them in the crowd. Go for colorful options, or buy stickers to help decorate and personalize school supplies.

Keep track on the sales. Stick to this rule no matter when and how you decide to make your shopping. This is not that hard today, since there are mobile apps and websites, likeTop-Holiday-Deals.com, that find all the best deals for you and then notify you.

Plan lunch. When you’re in charge of what your child eats, you’ll save yourself money. Check the weekly circulars at your local supermarkets for sales. If turkey isn’t on sale one week and ham is, go for the ham!

Once your back to school shopping is successfully complete, both you and your children can prepare for the real thing – back to school studying!