It won’t be long until the school bell rings, but right now, parents are figuring out the math when it comes to buying books, folders, pens and paper.
Back-to-school sale signs are beginning to pop up in stores across the country.
This year experts say that school supplies, like almost everything else, are going to cost a little bit more.
Families with children in elementary through high school plan to spend an average of $890 for the start of the school year. Double that if your child is headed to college.
In a CNET Money survey, 43% of back-to-school shoppers say they plan on using a credit card to pay for supplies this year.
But before you rack up more debt — here are a few ways to keep spending on budget.
First, download price-tracking browsers like camelcamelcamel, Keepa or the School Supplies App — and sign up to receive alerts when a price drops on something you need on your shopping list.
Download a cashback browser like Rakuten so you can get money back on everything you buy.
Don’t forget about buying used. Save as much as 60% on refurbished laptops and tablets on Amazon Renewed.
As for your college kid — textbooks can really add up. The College Board found the average cost of books and supplies for college runs $1,200 on average.
CampusBooks is a search engine and price comparison tool to help locate the best prices for books.
There are plenty of places to buy used textbooks on the web, chegg.com and textbooks.com are just two. Project Gutenberg offers more than 60,000 free eBooks you can download.
Another way to save: Stack coupons. For instance, when shopping online, don’t buy right away. Put the items in your cart and leave it.
A lot of times the retailer will send you an email with a discount code in hopes you’ll complete the purchase. Save the code and buy it during the tax-free holiday.