The new school year is rapidly approaching, and shopping for school supplies is one of the largest expenses that you will face when preparing for the new school year. Here are some tips to help you stretch your budget for back to school supplies.

Buy in Bulk
The easiest way to save money is to buy in bulk when possible. There are certain things that your child will always need in order to go back to school regardless of his or her current year of schooling. Some of the things that you can purchase in bulk include pencils, notebooks, folders, printer paper, staples, paper clips, etc. These are items that will never go bad, so why not purchase bulk quantities of these items and just store them until next year? Keep in mind that this might not make sense for some products that have a shorter shelf life. It wouldn’t be a good idea to buy pens and batteries for calculators in bulk to be stored for over a year or two. Over time, these products will no longer be usable.

Delay Your Shopping
There always is a chance that the teacher will change the requirements for students once classes begin. Therefore, by delaying shopping for supplies you can avoid purchasing items that students will not need or cannot use in school. The back to school sales in stores are usually ongoing through the first month of school so that you don’t have to worry about missing out on these sales if you don’t shop early. In fact, often, once school is in session, many stores have extra inventory they need to clear out and may offer an even deeper discount than at the beginning of the school year.

Skip the Decorations
Many school supplies are decorated with designs for kids with popular fictional characters or different fun colors. If you will look closely, these decorated items usually cost more than the non-decorative versions of the same quality. Also, the non-decorative items are more likely to come in bulk as described above. While it can be hard to say no, unless your child has their heart set on the decorative items, try to go the cheaper route.

Use Coupons
You can cut the cost of discounted school supplies even more by combining sales with coupons. A Staples coupon code combined with a sale can result in substantial savings. Stock up when you can get items cheaply so you won’t have to pay full price at a later time.

Go for Needs Versus Wants
When shopping for these items, try to keep in mind what a child needs for school compared to what they want. While we all want to give our children everything they want, sometimes our bank accounts just don’t allow it. Try to give each student a budget for their supplies before shopping as a way to reduce the amount spent on “wants” instead of needs. The only hard part will be saying no to your kids when they find something over their budget that they “absolutely have to have.”

With some careful planning, it is not difficult to save money while shopping for back to school items. Simply follow these tips, and your child will be well equipped for school on a small budget.