Back to school on a budget

Graci and Randi getting back to school supplies.

I can’t believe it’s almost time for the kids to go back to school. As you get your kids ready, you need to make sure your kids have their current physicals, school supplies, and clothes for school. I found a few places that you can go to help you out, so you don’t spend a fortune.

And, don’t forget the tax-free weekend in Florida this year is August 4-6. This is a perfect time for parents to save money on school supplies, clothing, shoes, and other back to school shopping items. You can find all the items tax free at www.floridarevenue.com/backtoschool

Mother and couponer Barbi Pierson, likes to look at the ads before going to the store to get the most for her money when shopping for back-to-school supplies. “Couponers get excited for back to school deals," she said. "You want to make sure to get your Sunday newspaper to see the ads and get coupons. If you miss getting the Sunday paper on Sunday, most Dollar Tree stores sell the Sunday paper all week. The best deals are combining and stacking store coupons with manufacturers and topping it with a competitor total off purchase.” 

Pierson added, “Remember to shop the BOGO (buy one get one) free items at Publix. You can even use coupons from competitors at some stores.”

Several stores like Target, that have their own apps for coupons. Target has the app called “Cartwheel” and you can use the coupons they give you and other coupons from the newspaper and printable coupons together for more savings.

Another way to save money is by shopping on the internet. Sites like Ebates give you money back when you shop. All you do is log into their site www.ebates.com and shop at your favorite store. They have more than 2,000 stores you can shop at. Right now they are offering a $10 bonus gift card to Walmart or Ebates just for signing up. It will send you a check in the mail every quarter as part of the commission they receive for having you shop on their site. You can comparison shop with newspaper ads and online. 

A great place to go to find the best deals at hundreds of stores online according to Pierson is the site Slickdeals at www.slickdeals.net, where you can find coupons for stores.   

Back to school items at Walmart.

You can also price match at some stores like Walmart, Staples, Target, Office Depot/Office Max. If you find a lower price you can get that price and at Staples if you find a lower price they will match it and lower the price by 10 percent.

Hopefully some of these tips will help you get your child ready for school. Finding deals and saving money doesn’t have to be hard, it can be easy if you know what to look for and how to shop. 

Here’s to starting off the school year right!

2012 Sales Tax Holiday for Back to School Supplies

As kids get ready to go back to school, don't forget about the Sales Tax Holiday.  It is three days starting on August 3-5th. With all the sales going on during the sales tax holiday, you can save some money!

Below is what the 2012 Florida Legislature passed and the Governor approved:

No sales tax shall be collected on the sale of clothing, wallets, or bags, including handbags, backpacks, fanny packs, and diaper bags, but excluding
briefcases, suitcases, and other garment bags, having a sales price of $75 or less per item, or on sales of certain school supplies having a sales price of $15 or less per item.

“Clothing” means any article of wearing apparel, including all footwear (except skis, swim fins, roller blades, and skates), intended to be worn on or about the human body. However, “clothing” does not include watches, watchbands, jewelry, umbrellas, handkerchiefs, or sporting equipment.
“School supplies” means pens, pencils, erasers, crayons, notebooks, notebook filler paper, legal pads, binders, lunch boxes, construction paper, markers, folders, poster board, composition books, poster paper, scissors, cellophane tape, glue, paste, rulers, computer disks, protractors, compasses,
and calculators.