Ten Tips for Saving Money During The Back-to-School Season

In honor of the 3rd Annual Staples Do Something 101 School Supply Drive, Staples and TwitterMoms have teamed up to bring you a fun new blogging program. The first 50 qualified participants to share 10 tips for saving money during the back-to-school season will get a $50 Staples gift card to help you get your kids prepared for back-to-school! In addition, one lucky random winner will get a grand prize of a $150 Staples gift card!

Through its Annual Do Something 101 School Supply Drive, Staples is helping to get school supplies into the hands of those in need. The first two Do Something 101 school supply drives raised nearly $1 million for local charities to purchase back-to-school supplies for students who need them. In addition, Staples stores donated thousands of school supplies to its recipient organizations.

Here are my tips:
1. Inventory your current supplies to see what items you can reuse from previous years.

2. Make a shopping list of things that are absolutely necessary.

3. Use comparison shopping sites to get the best price when shopping online.

4. Stock up on items on sale that can use throughout the entire school year.

5. Postpone purchases like winter clothes.

6.  Use price match wherever possible to get the best deals.

7.  Shop at stores that accept competitor coupons (like Staples)

8.  Combine coupons and store promotions to get the most for your money.

9.  Shop through various cash back programs to maximize your savings.


10. Get more saving ideas from coupon and deals forums.

From now through 8/14, Staples is offering a special discount to the TwitterMoms community. Print out this coupon and bring it to any Staples to get 25% off their collection of Sustainable Earth by StaplesTM notebooks and writing pads. These eco-friendly notepads are made from 80% sugarcane so fewer trees are used!

Disclosure: I wrote this blog post while participating in the TwitterMoms and Staples blogging program, making me eligible to get a $50 gift card. For more information on how you can participate, click here.