Depending on when the school year starts in your area, the back-to-school shopping season is either about to begin or in full swing already. And with school supplies, like most everything else, more expensive this year, some parents are getting creative in coming up with ways to save money.
Have you considered dumpster diving for necessities? Stealing supplies from work? Some participants in a new survey say they have. If you’re not willing to go that far, there are other strategies you can adopt, like using coupons, skipping name brands – and leaving the kids at home.
Those are among the findings of a new back-to-school shopping and saving survey, as commissioned by our friends at The Krazy Coupon Lady. 2,000 parents answered questions about their money-saving strategies this year. 82% said they’ve already noticed that prices for school supplies have risen since last year. With that in mind, 77% said it’s important to them to stay within a budget.
Some of their strategies are conventional. About two-thirds aren’t particular about buying name brands. And, depending on the item, as many as two-thirds are willing to buy used. Half strategize by buying school supplies whenever there’s a sale, regardless of the time of year. 45% will shop around at multiple stores at back-to-school time, a third will buy only items that are on sale, and 22% plan to save money by “extreme couponing.”
“Extreme couponing” isn’t so extreme, though, when compared to other savings strategies that are somewhat more unconventional. Three-quarters of respondents said they “would try any workaround to save money on school supplies.” Those “workarounds” include looking for half-used items around the house, cited by 16%; stealing supplies from work, which 12% admitted to doing; and the 5% who said they’re willing to dumpster dive to get discarded school supplies for free.
It turns out the best savings strategy is one that many back-to-school shoppers may not have considered – leaving the kids at home. 95% of survey respondents said they include their children when shopping for school supplies, but two-thirds said they end up spending more when they do.
And giving the kids some money to do their own back-to-school shopping is no solution. Only a third think their kids would use the money to buy actual school supplies. It’s more likely, parents said, that their kids would come home with games, candy or snacks instead.
So the best way to save money this season could be to shop around, look for sales, clip coupons – and don’t bring the kids when you go shopping. Back-to-school shopping can be stressful enough as it is.
“The reality is, parents are worried about what back-to-school shopping costs look like this year,” The Krazy Coupon Lady co-founder Joanie Demer said in a statement. “It’s clear that they want to save as much as possible when they prepare their kids for school — and that shouldn’t be a chore for them to do.”
When it comes to how much parents anticipate spending this year, the answers are all over the map – 20% don’t want to spend more than $100 total, while 12% expect to spend more than $500. Everyone else is somewhere in between. The right savings strategies could ensure your back-to-school budget is closer to the former than the latter – no dumpster diving or office thievery required.
Image source: Walmart
