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Shopping For School Equipment? These Tips Will Help You Save Money
  • May 2021
  • 0

Shopping For School Equipment? These Tips Will Help You Save Money

12th May 2021

Shopping for school equipment and supplies can seem like a daunting task, but it doesn’t have to be a stressful issue at all. With a little bit of planning and preparation, you can breeze through this process and have your kid ready for the next school year in no time.

We’ve put together a list of several helpful tips and tricks that will help you with shopping for school supplies. Some might seem obvious, but others will come as a surprise. 

Sweep the House 

Before you go out spending money on school supplies, you should do a thorough sweep of your house. More often than not, an average home will already have plenty of items that are often found on school equipment lists. Depending on what your kid needs, there’s a good chance you’ll find basic tools, glue, pens, rulers, and similar stuff lying around the house somewhere. 

If your kid is older and has already been in school for some time, there’s a chance you’ll find some of their supplies from last year that you either forgot about or simply stuffed away somewhere in the back of the garage. Doing an inventory of things you have is a great way to avoid ending up with a surplus of school supplies that you probably won’t be using anytime soon. 

Create a List 

Going shopping without a list is never a good idea, especially when you’re hunting for school supplies. Because of that, the next major step in this process is to figure out what you need

Coincidentally, this stage where you’re putting together a list of supplies is also the one where you can save the most. There are plenty of “optional” supplies that your kid can do without. Of course, if they really want something, you should do your best to accommodate their wishes. 

That being said, sit down, put everything on a piece of paper and see what you’re working with. Once you know what you need to get, you’ll know where to start looking. 

Couponing 

Before you make your way to your local office supply store, try to look for coupons both online and offline. The best thing to do is to use several sources that compile coupon codes. For the most part, https://www.swagbucks.com/shop/kohls-coupons is a good place to start, but there are plenty more sites like it. With some luck, you’ll score some pretty awesome deals. Another great way to find coupons is to check different forums and websites dedicated to school supplies. There are plenty of couponing enthusiasts out there who find all kinds of codes. 

Look for YouTubers and other influencers who work with office or school supply stores. They will occasionally drop a coupon or a discount code. Overall, if you’re a little crafty, you can save yourself a decent amount of money. 

Check With Friends and Family First 

Your next stop should be your friends and family, especially if they have kids who are older than yours and are preferably out of school by now. Drop them your list and ask them if they have anything from that list they can spare. You’d be surprised how happy some people are to offload stuff they aren’t using or don’t plan to use anytime soon.

Sure, the items you get won’t be brand new, but 5-year-old scissors are scissors nonetheless. The same goes for rulers and other supplies — an inch 10 years ago is the same as today’s inch, nothing changes. Also, they can potentially hook you up with electronics that will make your kid’s online classes easier. 

Yard or Garage Sales 

Yard and garage sales are seriously underrated when it comes to finding good deals. It’s not just weird vintage china or cassette tapes that are sold at such events. 

You can easily come across all kinds of useful and often interesting stuff, including fresh school equipment and supplies. There are people out there who can’t stand clutter and who don’t like to hold onto things longer than they absolutely have to. 

Some of them get rid of the extra belongings through the yard and garage sales. If you happen to stumble into one, there’s a chance that you can cross many items off of your list for dirt cheap. While it’s not the most effective way to get school supplies, garage sales are always a great opportunity to score perfectly good items for cheap. 

Dollar Stores

Dollar stores offer a lot more than people give them credit for. Sure, you won’t be finding any expensive brands in there, but that doesn’t mean a dollar store won’t have anything of value. 

In fact, they often pack all kinds of school supplies that are generally cheaper than the stuff you can find elsewhere. Maybe you won’t find everything you need in a dollar store, but it’s definitely a good place to add to your list of shopping destinations. 

Research Prices 

As you probably know, two identical items can have widely different price tags in two different stores. You can save yourself a lot of money by simply researching prices online before you go anywhere or order anything. Try to find as many sources as you can for an item you’re looking for. Chances are that you’ll find up to a 10% price discrepancy between different retailers. 

Additionally, you can check in with physical stores near you and see if they’re willing to price match online vendors. It’s not uncommon to find stores that will happily discount a product if you find it cheaper online somewhere. 

Follow Major Retailers Online 

If you go to Twitter or other social media and follow some of the largest retail stores, there’s a chance you’ll catch their flash discounts and flash sales. These sales don’t happen every day, but considering the number of major retailers in the business these days, your chances of bumping into a sale are fairly good. 

Shop Smart 

Taking advantage of the information presented above is a great way to get everything your kid needs for the upcoming school year, on a budget. There’s no reason why should pay a full price for something that can be obtained through other means, or bought at a discount. This is especially true for items that you won’t necessarily be used after the end of the school year. 

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