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Back to school savings tips

Written by Ami Shukla

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It’s that time of year again when the kids are getting ready to go back to school.  If you have kids who are going back to school, here are a few tips that could save you money with their back to school shopping.

Make a list of what they need

Making a list before you go to the shops is a very good idea. This will help you be in control of what you are there to do. Make sure you know what to get, where to get it and how much you are willing to spend on it. This will help you to not wander around for hours and spend more than you have to.

Make use of what you have at home

From the list you made, see if you can find these at home. You would be surprised to see what is floating around at home when you look. Finding these things at home will save you time and money.

Hand me downs

If you have children who are different ages you might be able to give the older Childs outgrown uniforms to the younger child. You can always do this with you friend’s children as well.

Op shopping

Pop into your local op shop. You would be amazed to see that they have lots of new to near new things on sale for the kids. Local school uniforms may even be there. It’s worth having a look and all profits go back to help local charities so even better.

Buy in bulk

For things you need every year like notebooks, pencils and crayons, buy them in bulk when they go on sale during the year.  If you know other parents with kids ask them if they would like to share in bulk purchases and spread them amongst the kids.

Buy online

Sometimes you can find that buying online is cheaper. If you know what you want and if it is cheaper online, you might as well buy it online then. Make sure you know the postage fees and work out if it will be worth it. Sometimes the quality of the things you get online might not be what you were expecting but if it is an identical brand to the one you saw in store than is should be okay.

Finally just a tip for parents - please check their school bags regularly for that old piece of fruit left to rot at the bottom of the bag! Hope that these tips will help you, and if you have your own back to school savings tips please share them below.