Save Money on Back to School Shopping

I’m sure every parent is looking for ways to save money on back to school shopping this year.

I know that when my daughters were younger this was true.

Even if our budget was flush, I always took a frugal approach to back to school shopping.

Because why spend more than you have to for things your children need to go back to school.

Sadly, some of the tips I used to use to save money no longer apply.

For example, L.L. Bean no longer offers the generous lifetime guarantee it once did.

Without fail this helped us save money on backpacks and lunch boxes, or even clothing we may have purchased to wear to school.

Here is a list of stores and brands that still offer lifetime guarantees.

List of money saving back to school shopping tips

However, there are still plenty of ways that parents today can save money on back to school shopping.

So, I’ve outlined the tried and true tips that I used for years and I know parents continue to use today.

Shop at home before hitting the stores

When I say shop at home for back to school, I don’t mean shop online or anything.

I mean, look through school supplies you may have left over from the previous year. 

Chances are your children came home at the end of the year with perfectly good supplies.

Or maybe you stocked up last year on certain supplies that your children never used.

Usually, without fail, my daughters would head back to school one year with leftover notebooks or pencils from the previous year.

It’s the same with clothing, shoes and backpacks.

If everything is still in good shape from the prior year, then you don’t need to buy as much this back to school season.

However, if you’ve got children who are growing, then it doesn’t matter if clothes are still good.

If they don’t fit, then you need to buy new. There’s just no way around that.

Stay organized with back to school shopping lists

I noticed an interesting phenomenon when I would do my shopping for back to school supplies.

Many of the stores near us would have back to school shopping lists you could use.

However, these were not school district approved or sanctioned lists.

These were suggested lists based on common back to school purchases.

Or, put another way, these were lists full of nice to haves, not must buys.

So, make sure that you’re shopping off the list that your child’s teacher sent home on the first day or the school district mailed to you or you downloaded from their parent portal.

Otherwise, you might end up buying items your children won’t need–and therefore you’ve spent money you didn’t need to spend for back to school.

Buy in bulk and split with other parents

Especially in the elementary school years, you may find items on a school supply list that have nothing to do with learning.

Rather, they have to do with staying healthy in the classroom.

For instance, your kindergartener may have facial tissues, cleaning wipes and hand sanitizer on their back to school shopping supply list.

So, what’s a frugal parent to do?

Team up with other parents to buy in bulk so everyone saves.

Warehouse clubs like Costco, BJ’s Wholesale Club and Sam’s Club are great places to shop in bulk.

It’s even better when you can save on your membership cost.

Costco Membership Deal via Groupon

The best deal on a Costco Membership right now is through Groupon. When you sign up, you’ll get your one-year membership plus a $40 Costco Digital Shop Card for free.

In case you didn’t know, the Costco Shop Card is the store’s gift card. You can use it in store or online.

This offer is for new Costco memberships only or for former Costco members whose membership expired more than 18 months ago. So, if you’ve moved, there wasn’t a Costco nearby and you let your membership lapse for more than 18 months, you’re good to go to sign up for this deal again!

Also, you can avoid the lines at your Costco location by signing up for this Groupon Costco deal. This was the crowd at the new Costco in Maine near where I live. Yikes!

Terms and Conditions

• After purchase you’ll receive an email from Costco confirming your membership details. To pick up your membership card, stop by the membership counter at any Costco location and bring a copy of that email with your photo ID. Incentive will be emailed within 2 weeks after sign-up to qualifying members.
• You’re receiving a One-Year Costco Gold Star Membership
• A membership card for the Primary Cardholder and one additional Household Card for anyone living at the same address, over the age of 16
• A $40 Digital Costco Shop Card (valid at Costco locations and Costco.com)
• Valid only for new members and those whose previous memberships (Primary and Household) have been expired for at least 18 months or more.
• Please allow up to two hours to receive your confirmation email from Costco. You must have either your Costco or Groupon confirmation email to receive your physical membership card at a Costco location.
• A physical membership card is not required to shop online or receive your incentives.
• Incentive includes a $40 Digital Costco Shop Card
• Digital Costco Shop Card will be emailed within 2 weeks after sign-up to qualifying members.
• Digital Costco Shop Card will be emailed to the email address provided by the Primary Member at time of sign-up.
• Not valid for the renewal of an existing Costco membership.
• To purchase this package, you must be 18 years of age or over, and agree to Costco’s Membership Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy.
• All sales final.
• $40 Digital Costco Shop Card is not redeemable for cash, except as required by law. Digital Costco Shop Cards are not accepted at Costco Gas Stations, Car Washes, or Food Court Kiosks.

Again, this a Groupon-only deal for a Costco membership.

Other warehouse club memberships

Perhaps you prefer to shop at another warehouse club because it is more convenient to where you live than Costco is. Good news: Both BJs and Sam’s Club have Groupon deals right now for memberships. Plus, both tend to have gas stations where members can get a cheaper price when filling up the gas tank.

Tax free shopping days

Back to school shopping is a popular time for states to offer tax free weekends or tax holidays.

That is, you won’t pay state or local sales tax on popular items people buy for back to school.

This includes computer equipment, shoes, clothing and more.

• Alabama (AL)
• Arkansas (AR)
• Connecticut (CT)
• Florida (FL)
• Iowa (IA)
• Maryland (MD)
• Massachusetts (MA)
• Mississippi (MS)
• Missouri (MO)
• New Mexico (NM)
• Ohio (OH)
• Oklahoma (OK)
• South Carolina (SC)
• Tennessee (TN)
• Texas (TX)
• Virginia (VA)
• West Virginia (WV)

This article provides more specific details about the tax free shopping holidays during back to school.

Get cash back when you shop back to school

There are so many ways you can get cash back when you shop for back to school–or anything else you need.

For example, it’s possible your credit card may be offering double cash back or something during the back to school season.

I know that I’m always getting offers from Discover Card for this extra cash back.

In addition, there are apps you can use to get cash back for shopping online or in person.

For instance, I’ve installed the Rakuten cash back app on my Chrome browser.

It tells me when cash back is available for anything I buy online.

Read my review of Rakuten here.

Cash back apps for back to school savings

Another option is using the Ibotta app for shopping in person.

I get cash back all the time via Ibotta after shopping at Costco.

Finally, specific stores have incentive programs that can help you earn cash back or at least discounts on future purchases.

Target is great about this.

By downloading the Target app (previously known as Cartwheel) and then opening the Target app at the register to show my Target Circle earnings, I can usually get money off my purchase.

If you’ve got a student going back to school, you may want to check out the Target Dorm Registry program.

Organize or join a back to school shopping swap

Clothing and equipment swaps are a popular way for neighbors to save money on items you might need for school sports or clothing for the first day.

Check out Facebook groups for your neighborhood or local parents.

Chances are someone may have set up a swap where you can get soccer cleats, shin guards or other school supplies for free.

Thrift shop for back to school clothes and other supplies

In my experience Sundays are a great day to visit your local Goodwill store.

That’s because on Sundays you’ll often find the best deals.

If you know how to shop at Goodwill, then you know to look for the “barb” color of the week.

That’s the color of the tag on the clothing.

Each week is a different color.

On Sundays, that color is often heavily discounted.

Discounts on Sundays at Goodwill

For example, in Western Pennsylvania where I’ve lived for a few years, on Sundays, the color of the week is $.99.

When I visited New England recently and went to a Goodwill store, the color of the week was $1 on Sundays.

In other Goodwill locations, the color of the week means 50% off.

And before you turn your nose up at thrift shopping for back to school clothes, let me tell you this: I have found plenty of new with tags items at Goodwill.

True, there are things I won’t buy at a thrift store, such as socks or underwear (unless they’re new in the bag).

But pretty much everything else is fair game.

Use gift cards for back to school shopping

Do you have gift cards leftover from holiday or birthday gifts that you never used?

Now would be a great time to put them to good use for back to school shopping.

In addition, I mentioned earlier about credit cards that give you cash back.

Well, do you have credit cards that let you trade in cash back for gift cards?

Plan ahead and order some of those “free” gift cards.

This will help cut down on your cash outlay for back to school shopping.

Final thoughts on how to save money on back to school shopping

My back to school shopping days are in the rearview mirror now that my daughters are older.

We’ve moved on to shopping for college dorms and college school supplies which are a whole different (and more expensive) ball of wax.

However, we’ve found ways to save there, too.

If you have additional tips on how to save on shopping for back to school, please post a comment and let me know.

Finally, I hope you’ve found these tips helpful.