How to save on school supplies

It may seem impossible, but you can fill your child's backpack without going broke!
You Will Need
* Your child's required school supply list
* A dollar store
* Loss leaders
* Online deals
* Coupons
* A recycling nonprofit
* Bulk buying

Step 1
Stick to your school’s list of required supplies. Contact the school if you haven’t received one.

Step 2
Ask your child’s school if they know of any community programs that are distributing free school supplies. Or check for them online.

Step 3
Start at the dollar store, where you can almost always find pens, pencils, notebooks, and other items.

Step 4
Scour weekly store sale advertisements so you can snap up items you need that fall into their “loss-leader” category – items they sell at a loss each week to lure you into the store.

Step 5
Check the web sites of big discount stores before you head out the door; they often have downloadable coupons and deals you can only get online.

Join forces with other parents so you can buy school supplies in bulk and split them.

Step 6
Talk to your school principal about the school joining the National Association for the Exchange of Industrial Resources or a similar organization, which collects overstock donations from businesses and redistributes them to nonprofit organizations, like schools.

Fact: The average American family with school-age children spends $594.24 on back-to-school purchases.