10 Back to School Money Saving Tips

Y’all ready for some money saving tips to save you some cash at back to school time?! You know that my family is frugal, practical and striving to stay debt free! Here are our 10 Money Saving Tips to help pay for all those school supplies, backpacks, and so much more! My purpose of this post is to help make back to school shopping as easy as possible (and save some money while doing it!)

My dad and I are super passionate shoppers and he has over 40 years of retail experience. So, we are sharing some tips that we hope will save you some money, because back to school is hard enough without the budget. Be on the lookout for more money saving tips, for back to school and more!

Let’s face it back to school shopping is expensive. Even before I had kids it was expensive. As a teacher, as a student, or as someone who just likes to get organized and loves office supplies it can get expensive. But it can also be a really exciting time, especially if you have some tips to help you! There is just something in the air. I love it, but my wallet doesn’t. Fun fact: as a kid my dad was an executive as Office Depot, so loving office supplies is literally in my blood!

If you are a teacher: First, thank you for the service you are doing for our country and our world! As a teacher for over 5 years I know all the work, time and money that you invest into your students. Some tips specific to teachers:

-Don’t forget to start an Amazon wishlist for your classroom. Many parents or your friends or family would love to support your classroom. I love buying things for my classroom from a second hand store or from another teacher who has retired!

Don’t forget the Target teacher savings in August for 15% off! I always bring my teacher badge with me in case a store has a teacher discount, that always help save some money at back to school time and throughout the year! Homeschool teachers are also eligible for this Target discount but you need to verify your status on the Target Circle Dashboard on your account before shopping.This year it looks like it’s good through the end of August on tons of classroom essentials

Why should you trust our tips?

I am a former extreme couponer, and an overall bargain shopper. My family is on one government salary and work hard to stay debt free (besides a mortgage). I do a lot of research to save money, so I want to share it with y’all to hopefully help y’all too!

My dad is a career grocery/office supply executive. He has worked for Dollar General, Office Depot, Wegmans, his own grocery store, etc and has lots of experience buying and selling school supplies! We collaborated on this article, as we do with most things in life. We hope these back to school money saving tips help you and your family!

See my Amazon School Supplies List

10 Back to School Shopping Saving Tips

These tips aren’t meant to overwhelm you, I just hope you can pick 1 or 2 of these back to school money saving tips!

  • 1. Purchase Gently Used Clothes and Backpacks too! (For kids and adults) We love shopping on Facebook Marketplace, our neighborhood facebook group or some second hand stores. Our favorites are: Once Upon a Child (store locator here), local consignment stores, Goodwill (store locator here).
  • 2. Shop on a Sales Tax Holiday for specialty things- Check this list for your state’s holidays. This website also tells you what is tax-free in your state! The sales tax might seem insignificant but they really add up! This is especially helpful for bigger purchases like laptops, winter coats, or calculators. Also, you don’t have to be going to school to take advantage of these holidays. Sometimes retailers will not discount their popularly selling things on the tax free weekends. So things like crayons, glue, folders, binders, things that are needed across all schools and grade levels. But specialty things like a specific calculator, a protractor, could be bought on the sale tax free weeks.
  • 3. Shop early! Especially this year, with supply chain issues with COVID and things coming from China or overseas. If you don’t shop early the supplies will be picked over and you may have to purchase more expensive brands or packages. This year there has been a lot of inflation on these products so the discount won’t be as deep, and there may be shortages. You might pay up to 10% more on supplies this year. (Especially the cost of paper because the cost of wood has increased so much).
  • 4. Go shopping with a list. If you are anything like me you can get real excited about organizing and back to school supplies and well, go a little crazy. Bringing a list of the things that I know I NEED (helps keep me focused and not overbuy). Shopping online can help from impulse buys too or us Walmart pickup.
  • 5. Shop your stash at home first (we do have scissors from last year that work well, do you have some tissue boxes from your bulk trip to Costco to give to the classroom ) and this helps keeps my house from getting more cluttered. Teachers don’t mind if the supplies are slightly used as long as they work. And feel free to always give classroom teachers extras if you are decluttering because classroom teachers always need supplies for other students who maybe don’t have the budget for supplies this year.
  • 6. Know Where to Shop-I price compared this year, and Walmart seems to have the lowest everyday prices. Some stores like Staples, and Office Depot will have some flash sales on items that are cheaper, but that may leave you driving around town and this mama doesn’t have time for that. So it’s a personal preference. But for me I will be shopping at Walmart. I do love to visit Target for some of the cuter notebooks too! Walmart will usually price match so you can check your local stores for that. Also, Amazon often doesn’t have the lowest prices on these types of shopping! Love Amazon, but just not for the cheapest supplies. I love shopping online at Walmart because it can be delivered to my house for free and keeps me focused and you can sort by grade and easily price compare without my crazy kiddos!
  • 7. Buy in larger packs-This is especially helpful if you have multiple children. It’s usually cheaper to buy in bulk if you need to buy multiples. Don’t forget about Sam’s Club and Costco for school supplies. You can Shop at Sam’s Club online as a guest. Or if you haven’t been a member before they currently have a promotion to buy a $45 membership and get a $45 gift card!
  • 8. Think about Value vs. Cost-Know when to save and when to splurge. Personally, some supplies are worth splurging on and some are worth saving on. See the video below for a few of my opinions, but again this will be different based on your needs and preferences. Some things I pay a bit more because they are worth it and are better quality. If you buy the cheapest of everything you may be repurchasing supplies because the quality is poor.
  • 9. Don’t forget the Dollar Stores, especially Dollar Tree! I love the Dollar stores for getting my classroom stocked, back to school supplies, and some snacks when I’m there! Pens, clipboards, classroom borders, workbooks, are just as great at the dollar stores!
  • Dollar General is hit or miss on their competitive pricing. Pro tip: look for valuable Dollar General coupons on their receipts! If you buy anything during the week they generally print out a coupon for save $5 off $25 if you buy anything during the week, so you can go during the week and get the coupon So that’s a 20% savings, which is 3 times the sales tax holiday savings.
  • 10.Spreading the shopping and Ask for help if you need it! -Maybe get the clothes in July, the supplies in August, etc! You can plan for things like Backpacks and lunch boxes ahead of time or shop for them at a consignment store! There are so many local churches and organizations that donate school supplies every year! So if it’s a hardship share with the school and they can help you!

A word on boxed School Supplies: Some schools and district will offer a box that has all the school supplies. As a teacher I’ve had both positive and negative experiences with them. Sometimes the quality of the school supplies are are so poor that parents would purchase them and then would have to repurchase for their kids because their supplies were basically unusable (crayons that don’t color well, pencil supply boxes that break) But I also can see the value of having it all done and a lot of time it supports the school so that is great.

Also, as a teacher who has typically worked with under served populations I want to let you know that your kids teachers or school never want to put you in a financial hardship over purchasing school supplies. I want to encourage you to ask and share with the school if purchasing school supplies is financially difficult for your family because there are often many churches, or other organizations who donate school supplies that the teachers would love to connect you with them! This year especially has been financially difficult on so many of us so please, please if you need help ask for it! People want to help!

There are other money savings tips and tricks and be sure to follow along with my Instagram stories for more ideas!

Favorite School Essentials

These are the things I used as a teacher or am buying for my kids to get us ready for school! I love the feeling of back to school even if I don’t have any kids going or am not going back to school myself. It’s a great time to do a little bit of organizing and decluttering before the crazy holiday season! It’s a great way for me to get back to the healthy habits that make me feel my best! There is something about a schedule and a routine that helps me thrive!

Visit my Amazon Back to School List!

Splurge Pick: Quality Backpack

It’s a bit of a splurge (seen above) but the quality is great, and the designs are so cute! Lots of great designs, free shipping and available to be personalized. We tend to splurge for Pottery Barn quality on some things that will be used a lot! And it’s one of their best sellers. Also available in different sizes for different sized learners and even a roller option! Matching lunch boxes also! Amelia is a size small.

Shop at Pottery Barn

Budget Backpacks!

How cute are these backpacks at Walmart? Some super cute Disney ones, all for under $20! There are so many great options. I’ve also found some good backpacks from Marshalls/TJ Maxx.

Shop Walmart Backpacks!

Backpack for the Youngest Kids

We loved using this backpack with Amelia. Skip Hop has a bunch of super cute designs. I would throw a water, change of clothes, a snack and some diapers and wipes in there when Amelia went to the church nursery or gym and it would work out great for daycare or just out and about! Amelia loves wearing it when we fly with her! Note: this style does include a harness that you can either remove or keep. It wasn’t in the design when we bought it but no judgement either way!

Shop at Target!

A lunch box to keep your stuff cold


Fair warning, this lunchbox is big! Would be best for bigger kids or adults. Like my sister laughed when I first bought it for her, but it gets the job done, is easy to clean and stays cooler longer! I used this when I was teaching and it was great! It easily fits a large glass container. The blue color is only $14 at Walmart right now. Also available at Amazon!

Shop at Walmart!
A large lunchbox

A kid friendly lunch box

This lunch box is a great size for kids, can be personalized and can match their awesome backpacks too! LL Bean backpacks and lunch boxes last forever!

Shop at L.L. Bean

My Favorite Pens!

Add a little flair into your life! These are great pens that I use for my morning gratitude practice. journaling There is something about adding a little color into your life that brings me joy. They also don’t bleed through paper. Don’t forget to check our the rest of my back to school Amazon list on Amazon!

Grab on Amazon

Watch Splurge vs. Save School Supply Edition below!

I was at Target for this school supply haul!

We sure hope that these back to school money saving tips helped you in some way. We love sharing about ways to help you. Let us know in the comments what you want to read about next! Do you have any back to school money saving tips that we left off? Thanks for being here!

Please send me a message if there is anything I can do to help you live a healthy lifestyle for less! Thanks for helping support my family! These links are affilliate links so if you shop from this page I may earn a small commission.