Back to School Shopping Tips for Parents
Back to school shopping tips would have come in handy when I was in my stages of back to school shopping. I dreaded taking my daughter back to school shopping and the shock of the money I would have to spend.
Every year she spent the summers with her dad. I realized how much I spent on her because there would be so much money in my account. But when she came back it was another story.
I remember one year I thought I had done a great thing and bought her some clothes on “sale.” I spent about $400. Within two months, those clothes were too small. Had I thought about it I would have had her cuff her jeans and moved on in life. But cuffed jeans weren’t in back then so I had to go back to the store to buy more clothes.
What I found was that the clothes were MUCH cheaper. Because it was after labor day and closer to October, I was able to get great(er) prices on her clothes.
Back to School Shopping Tip #1: Buy Clothes After Labor Day
I know your child wants to be “dressed up” for the first day of school. A lot of kids want to look cute and special for that first day. Maybe you can find a great deal on clothes before labor day. However, save the BULK of your shopping after labor day (in September) and closer to October if you can.
You might be tempted to start shopping in August. Many retailers will woo you in with their sales but DON’T go for it. Wait until September or later.
I have found that retailers realize that most of the biggest buying occurs in August. By September, they need to get rid of their inventory. If you live in the south there is honestly no reason to buy back to school clothes. It generally stays warm for a long period of time so you will save money by delaying the purchase. Your child is perfectly fine going to school in tshirts and shorts until at least late October.
Back to School Shopping Tip #2: Have Your Child(ren) Contribute
This is one of the best back to school shopping tips. If your child(ren) have part-time jobs or worked over the summer there is no reason that you should buy their clothes. Before they start the job, have them allot a certain amount of money to buying clothes for the next school year.
Back to School Shopping Tip #3: Do an Inventory of Existing Wardrobe
Another word of advice that should be added to back to school shopping tips is shopping in your own closet. One of the staples in life that I love are denim jeans. Denim jeans can last for a long time if you have enough of them. I have admitted that I have a thing for jeans. I have had 25 pair at one time.
When my daughter was in school I would do an inventory of her jeans and tshirts (we live in Georgia). I would do this inventory BEFORE even thinking about going shopping. If she had enough items to wear, we would wait to shop. In my mind, I doubted anyone would remember what she wore the previous year. I could be wrong. But, I know that so long as her jeans fit her I could get away with getting her some tshirts until the sales started.
Back to School Shopping Tip #4: Shop at Discount Retailers
Back to school shopping and T.J. Maxx and Marshalls have been hand in hand in my family. These are two places my mom shopped during back to school season. Back when I was growing up, both places had lay-away plans. This is when you “buy” the clothes, leave them at the store and then pay on them for a small fee. My mother figured that with two kids it would be easier just to pay weekly or monthly on the clothes which wouldn’t hurt her pockets.
Back to School Shopping Tip #5: Buying a Laptop
Shopping for a laptop can lead to anxiety, especially with these prices. I recently purchased a laptop from Best Buy for myself. Amazon had some decent prices but I needed the laptop immediately. I could go to the store and walk out with my purchase.
I looked at Best Buy’s website and saw a great priced laptop. When I went to the store, the same laptop I saw online was there but much higher. I showed the salesman what I found on the Best Buy page and they honored the lower price. I saved $75 on the price.
I also could have gotten more money back from purchasing that laptop. I recently signed up for a program called Earny. If you make a purchase with a Citibank or Chase Credit Card, and Earny finds a cheaper price, they will give you the difference. Earny found an advertisement for the laptop I purchased at $125 less than what I paid for it. However, since I paid for it with my debit card and not my credit card, I can’t get the difference.
Back to School Shopping Tip #5: Try Shopping at Outlets
You may want to shop at the outlets in order to save money for back to school shopping. You can find some great deals. Some items sold may be last season’s version. But in a lot of situations, you cannot really tell the difference. You may be able to save hundreds of dollars on clothes by shopping at an outlet.
Here are some back to school shopping tips that you should note when shopping at outlets.
- Shopping Tips to Save Money at Outlet Stores and Factory Stores
- How to Save when Outlet Shopping
- 5 Ways to Save More at the Outlets
No one wants to spend a lot of money especially during back to school season. Hopefully you will be able to take some of these tips and come up with some additional cost savings tips to be shared with us all.
Happy shopping!