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Back in 2010 when my son started K5, I remember purchasing everything he needed prior to the start of the school year.

I prepared and snagged deals, and the process worked smoothly.

With two in school now and the deals not going as low as I would like, I am becoming more patient.

Realizing that we don’t need everything before the first day of school, I’m using these 4 savings tips to starting off the school year.

Tip #1: Shop our Inventory

By shopping our inventory, I gathered most of our school clothing and supplies. I then compiled a master list of items we still needed to start the year. I loved how I did not need to spend lots of extra money this year as I had most of the supplies needed from prior sales.

For example, I looked through our cabinet of office supplies and found a dry-erase eraser purchased last year from Staples. Noticing that my daughter needed an Expo brand eraser, I contacted her teacher to inquire. Receiving the response that any dry-erase eraser would do, I added our already-purchased eraser to my daughter’s supplies. Yay, eraser marked off the list!

Tip #2: Determine Need vs. Want

During our inventory, we discovered that both backpacks and both lunch packs were in great condition from last year. Rather than asking for a new one, both of my children are happy with their choices last year and will use these backpacks this year.

In purchasing higher quality backpacks, my children get 2 years out of them which is a great way to stretch our dollars.

My children also liked their 12″ pencil boxes used last year. So, we washed them out and will use those again this year as well. 😉

Tip #3: Checking Sales

Left on our list of needed items was a new dress uniform for my daughter. This uniform is only worn on special days, so it is not needed for the first day of school.

I kept a look on the sales at J. C. Penney where the IZOD collection is the most reasonably priced. When they ran a sale on these items, I paired the sale with a promotional code and scored free shipping resulting in a great deal for her new dress uniform.

Tip #4: Choosing when to Purchase

Though I could have waited to purchase my daughter’s dress uniform until after the start of school, I jumped at the sale and purchased it.

Knowing that my son will need some pants this fall, I am waiting for a sale on those items as he will start the school year wearing shorts. He does not need the pants now, but if a sale comes before school starts, then I will snag them.

In using time wisely, I started by taking inventory to know what we had at home, then determined our needs and wants, checked the sales, and chose when to purchase. These 4 savings tips to starting off the school year saved our family money while stretching our dollars. Happy savings!

Question: What are your savings strategies this year?