It's Back To School Time! Did You Got Your School Supplies?

Staples and TwitterMoms have teamed up and are asking me the following: 

10 tips for saving money during the back-to-school season

Every year, my Back To School expenses have gone down! I swear! It's not because everything is getting cheaper it's because I am a planner.

Throughout the year I hit the Back To School Sales big time. Even before the kids were in school I stocked up n supplies mostly only needing a new backpack, lunch box and binder when school time starts.

1 - Hit the Back to School bins at the start of the season.

2 - Head to the $1.00 store periodically, you never know when the restock.

3 - Shop in bulk. You can always share with a friend or put it away for the next year.

4 - Shop for back to school clothes in middle October when items are going on sale. Most of my friends head to the store the end of August for back to school clothes and spend a fortune. The kids will still be wearing their summer clothes until at least mid October so why not wait until after that to shop?

5 - Hit the bargain bins all all stores, you never know what treasure you may find. I always have a supply of glue sticks, crayons, paper, coloring books and more. 

6 - Grab whatever hand-me-downs you can get. 

7 - Use coupons when you can, search online at the stores you will be heading for and see if there are online coupons (print them out) or if there is free shipping, why waste the gas to drive to the store?

8 - Always, always, always use a list! Shopping without one will force you to have to return to the store to pick up what you forgot, hence spending more money with the gas and the extra items that you wouldn't have purchased had you remembered the item in the first place.

9 - Spread the shopping out. There is no need to wait and spend a fortune on one shopping spree. You will always need paper, pencils, pens, highlighters, notebooks, etc. So when you see them in the clearance aisle, grab them. Keep a bin of supplies on hand and have a friend do the same, you may just be able to save each other a fortune next year.

10 - Don't spend a fortune on designer products. You can easily create your own personal designer, notebooks, binders, lunchboxes, and more with crafty ideas you can find online.

About Staples:

Staples, the world's largest office products company, is committed to making it easy for customers to buy a wide range of office products and services. Our broad selection of office supplies, electronics, technology and office furniture as well as business services, including computer repair and copying and printing, helps our customers run their offices efficiently. With 2009 sales of $24 billion and 91,000 associates worldwide, Staples operates in 26 countries throughout North and South America, Europe, Asia and Australia serving
businesses of all sizes and consumers. Staples invented the office superstore concept in 1986 and today ranks second worldwide in e-commerce sales. The company is headquartered outside Boston. More information about Staples (NASDAQ: SPLS) is available at www.staples.com/media.

Staples makes going back-to-school easy for 2010:

Staples provides significant savings, a wide selection of quality products, and a one-stop shop and stress-free shopping experience.

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  Staples is in-stock throughout the entire season and into the start of the school year.
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  Staples kicks off the back-to-school season to provide customers with an official start date for back-to-school shopping and a clear roadmap for value throughout the season.
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  Staples is the expert on back-to-school, with more than 20 years experience.
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  Staples offers more ways to save from hot buys like penny and dollar deals to savings on technology to reduced low prices on hundreds of core items.

More info: http://www.staples.com

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“I wrote this blog post while participating in the TwitterMoms and Staples blogging program, making me eligible to get a $50 gift card. For more information on how you can participate, click here.” (make sure you link to: http://staples.twittermoms.com/about)