by Kelsi Caylor

Created on: August 10, 2009

School supplies on a budget? Easy! I'll give you some tips on how to save money and fill your children's wishes at the same time. It's not hard, and there are several methods of saving some much needed cash in today's economy. If you want to save some cash, keep reading!

1. Coupons! Go buy a paper from the nearest gas station, post office, or any store that sells newspapers! Coupons are a very good way to save money! For example, I discovered a coupon in my newspaper for Kmart. If you spent at lest fifteen dollars on school supplies, then you get a ten pack of wooden #2 pencils for free. Also, I found another one that saved you five dollars if you spent at least twenty on school supplies.

2. Buy the Store brand instead of the pricey brands. I was shopping at Wal-Mart last year for school supplies, and I came across this forty pack of Bic lead pencils. I dropped them into my basket and went on, without looking at the price. I was looking for more pencils (I'm a writing untencil freak) and I found almost the same pencils for a lesser price, all because they were a different brand, and you got the same amount of pencils! It's an amazing way to save mounds of money.

3.Sales, sales, sales! Tight budgets = look for sales! If you shop clearance school supplies, you will save quite a bit of money there too. Another example is when I was shopping at Wal-Mart, I went over to the clearance isle. They had binders, pencils, pens, notebooks, and folders on sale for almost half the price.

4.Ask your children what color binders,pencils, dividers, notebooks, and folders they would like before you go shopping, but do not take your kids with you to get their school supplies. The "I want" will not drive you crazy while you are trying to beat the crowd and shop cheap! You don't have to look over your shoulder every couple of seconds to see if your children are still there, because they will be at home or with a sitter. Save yourself some money and stress!

5. This isn't a money tip-but it will save you some stress! Go shopping early in the morning before your children wake up! Arrange it with a relative to let your children spend the night while you go to bed early and wake up early. There won't be hardly any people there and you won't have to fight the crowd! It might save you money since you don't have your children with you and i will also save you huge amounts of stress!

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