Back to school shopping can be tricky. There are a lot of decisions to be made (yellow highlighter or pink highlighter?), a lot of items to pick up, and a very short amount of time to do it all in. Add stressed out parents and long lineups into the equation, and you've got yourself a pretty rough week leading up to school.

Cut out the hassle this year. Make your list and prioritize it. Dig up all of last year's leftover supplies and see what you can cross off your list. Then set a budget and follow these tips while doing your shopping:

Undoubtedly, you have supplies from last year that can be reused (especially 'sturdier' items like rulers, scissors, and pencil sharpeners).

If you have textbooks on your supply list, see if you can buy them used. Hit up a campus store or put out the word on Facebook. You might be able to find someone who will lend you their textbook or sell it to you at a fair price. Failing that, you could always by a cheaper used copy off of Ebay or Amazon. If your books are still in good condition once you're done with them, you can sell them to friends or online and 'recover' some of the money you spent on them.



For some supplies, real savings come when you buy in bulk (hey all you waiters, waitresses, and absent minded students: bags of Bic pens are your new best friend!). Buying in bulk is especially smart for staple supplies like pens, pencils, and looseleaf paper.



Lots of supplies go on sale in time for the new school year, so if there's room in your budget, pick up doubles of school/office supplies you'll need to replace throughout the year. As a personal example, if notebooks are on sale, I'll always pick up a few extra. That way, when I fill one up mid-year, I won't have to dash out to buy another one for the 'off-season' price of $3.49.

Hint: Unless you know you'll be using it sooner than later, don't stock up too much on supplies like markers or glue sticks – if you don't get around to using them, they will dry out.

It's tempting to pick up the cheapest product – especially when your back to school list is a mile long. In some cases, opting for a higher quality product will save you money over time.

For example: In high school, I remember having to replace the subject dividers in my binder all the time because they'd always tear away from the binder rings. When I switched from my regular card stock ones (cheap) to fully plastic ones (less cheap), I no longer needed to replace them.

In some cases, cheaper items are a waste of money because they just don't work properly. Dollar store hole-punches, pencil sharpeners, and glue are notorious disappointments.



Back to school shopping can be a hassle, especially if you have to try 5 different stores to hunt down those elusive 80-page keytab notebooks. You can eliminate a lot of the hassle by finding a one-stop shop – preferably one that matches competitor prices.



Decorated or colorful supplies are usually more expensive than plain ones. Shop for supplies based on their ability to get the job done, and not on their ability to promote Hello Kitty/Transformers/New Kids on the Block. Besides, you can always decorate your school supplies yourself with stickers or paint.

School supply prices can also be driven up by their ability to be "organizational". Truth is, these products aren't always realistic. See if there are alternatives before springing for a pricier "organizational" product.

For example: In high school one year, I bought one of those canvas Five Star binders with tons of mesh pockets and pencil holders and zippered pouches sewn into the inside flap, thinking it would be handier than carrying a pencil case around. As it turned out, the multitude of pockets couldn't hold bulkier supplies like my calculator, and I ended up having to carry a pencil case with me anyway. Not only that, but the binder rings busted in second semester, rendering the $11-worth of mesh pockets and pencil holders completely useless. These days, the combo of a $1 binder and a $2 pencil case excels at what my $16 binder couldn't do back in grade 10.


Good luck with your shopping! If you have more tips, please share them in a comment below!

Larissa

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