School Supplies for Kids - Cutting the Costs

Part of the problem with outfitting your kids for a new school year is the "cool" factor. They want to look cool while you are trying to be sensible. If this is a real battle with your kids then it is going to take some negotiating with them. They can't have everything that they want but give them a choice of one special item that you would consider splurging on and then look for that item on sale.

While kids want everything new for a new school year before you head out to buy go through your home and see what you have that is still in great condition. You might have a box of pencils that you bought last year and totally forgot about. Look through your office supplies and craft supplies to make sure you haven't squirreled away your kids school supplies along with them.

Be on the look out at garage sales and church bazaars for school supplies as they tend to sell for pennies on the dollar. Thrift stores sometimes bundle up pens, markers and pencils and sell them off cheaply. There are almost always binders for sale at thrift stores.

If you have more than one child then consolidate all their lists and see if there is something that you can buy in bulk. Make a detailed list and carry it with you everywhere, make sure that you cross off items that you buy other wise you might end up with multiples.

Now is the time to start spying out sales at grocery stores and other places that don't generally carry school supplies. Grocery stores often have the best deals because they have to totally sell off school supplies quickly to use the shelves for other seasonal items. The further into the season the better the prices will be as they slash them but be careful that you don't wait too long, otherwise, that great deal will be sold out and you will end up paying full price at some other store. Liquidators can be a great source for school supplies as well.
 
Part of the problem of buying supplies for children is waste. Lined paper can be sold at amazingly cheap prices so stock up but hide it from the kids. Only show them half of one package that you bought, tell them that is all you got them for now and you will get them more latter if they need it. Don't proudly show them 5 packages of 1000 sheets that you bought for $2- they will think that the supply is endless and start using it for everything they can think of, paper airplanes, wall paper, wrapping the dog. Follow the basic rule of supply, if they think there is an abundance of something then they will not treat it with respect or economy, if they think something is scarce they will measure it out and use it moderately.

Large stationery stores and department stores often have loss leaders to get you into the store and hope that you buy everything else there as well. Don't assume that Dollar Stores have the best deals, they will often sell items for $1 that are sold for much less in other stores.

It is tiring to hop from store to store looking for the best bargains on pencils and notebooks. Make a list of the stores that you want to go to and swing by while you are running other errands.

Generally the items typically needed for school year to year are

• pencils
• pens
  
• pencil sharpener
• erasers
  
• coloured pencils
• coloured markers
  
• ruler
• pencil case
  
• lined paper
  
• Bristol board
  
• coloured duotangs
  
• glue sticks
  
• back pack.
  

Supplies are different from school to school and of course from grade to grade and extra  items might be asked for by the teacher like

• scissors
• construction paper
• calculators 
  
• three ring binders
  

Check you schools website to see if their teacher has posted a list of required supplies. (Be prepared that during the school year your children will either loose or break everything that you bought for them.) If you think that the list that the teacher was posted is unreasonable (they only want a certain brand of expensive binder for example) then buy the item but make sure that you can return it and ask the teacher exactly why they wanted that item and why a cheaper one won't do. 

Know your child, if nothing lasts for more than a month then look for the cheapest of each item but if they are a careful child then look for quality brands that are on sale. (Really cheap coloured pencils can have the lead inside of them broken in several places which makes the lead fall out, really cheap erasers can discolour the paper or just smudge the mark they were trying to erase, really cheap markers work only a few times.) When buying glue sticks check the amount that is in them. Just because it is a larger glue stick doesn't mean it has more glue in it.

Avoid buying any school supplies that have licensed cartoon character or Disney teen stars on them. They are more expensive and you never know when they switch from "cool" to "uncool" and your kids won't use them anymore. (You can always let your kids decorate their binders and other school supplies with cut outs from magazines or stickers).

Make a list of everything that you send them to school with and mark those items either with their last name or initials. There are parents who send their kids to school with no supplies and the instructions to "borrow what you need" and you don't want them borrowing and not returning your kids stuff. (If this is a problem at your school or there seems to be a lot of petty theft going on in your child's classroom bring it up with the teacher immediately).

Have a secret stash of school supplies that you can dip into in emergencies, this can save you a bundle when it is 10:30 at night and they are panicked because there is a major project due tomorrow. This would include a

• pen
  
• pencils
• white paper
  
• lined paper
  
• white and coloured Bristol board
  
• markers
  
• coloured pencils
  
• glue
  
• ruler
  
• construction paper
  
• letter stencils (or information on how to do it on your computer)
  
• stapler
  
• scotch tape
  
• ALWAYS have extra printer ink on hand. (It is hard to print out the prize winning image for the science fair if you only have yellow ink left in your printer.)
  

Don't let your children take supplies from this without telling you, or better yet don't even let them see it, make them ask you for what they need or you might find yourself confidently going to give your daughter some Bristol board just to find out that you son has already used it. If you can try to have the same brand of coloured pencils and markers at home as they use at school so if they bring a project home to work on they have the same materials. If they have items from the previous year still in good condition (coloured pencils and markers)  use these up first in you at home secret stash before opening new items, you might make it through the whole year with out using the new.


A new year at school is exciting for every child but it doesn't have to be expensive for the parents. With a list and careful shopping you can both be happy with the back to school supplies.