It’s that time again – back to school! Which means lots of extra groceries, school snacks, after school snacks etc. – perfect time for a giveaway. I have lots of great coupons to share – so get ready to win a bunch! 🙂
1st time ever doing it this way – you can earn an entry for any back to school, or money saving tip you share in the comments! List each tip seperately – try not to copy others, and it has to be a tip to count as an entry. So, go nuts and share all your back to school or money saving knowledge with the rest of us! 🙂
There will be a lot of winners for this one I think, I’ll do 1 winner for 1-99 entries, 3 winners for 100-199, 5 winners for 200-299 and so on. Contest open to all Canadians and will end Monday Sept. 10th at noon. So spread the word, the more entries the more winners and the more we can all learn too! 🙂 Good Luck everyone!
Buy school supplies in bulk and share with other parents/students.
make your own “Lunchables” with a simple pizza bread recipe or crackers, a container of pizza sauce, cheese and toppings. cheaper and healthier!
I like to buy backpacks, lunch boxes, and the basic school supplies towards the end of Sept – early Oct for the following year. By then, everything is on sale. I throw all the new stuff in a rubbermaid tote, then open it up in Aug the following year so the kids can have thier new supplies! Saves a ton of cash!
Do your own baking for school lunches.
stock up on recess snacks when they go on sale,,I try not to pay anymore then $.25 per snack..lol..
being the Director of a child care centre (but not having any children of my own) my fav money saving tip is buying on sale this year for the rest of the year for our little ones…as soon as stuff starts going down in price I am buying in BULK!!
Buy back to school clothes, shoes and backpacks in September, rather than August and save a bundle. Backpacks that were $25 last week are only $20 or $10 this week.
Grocery and back to school shop without children when possible. You save tons of time and money.
Yogurt tubes are great ice packs!
Buy them when they go on sale, throw them all in the freezer. Throw one in the lunch box in the morning and they’re thawed by lunch.
Stock up snack foods in bulk. Then put them in small ziplock bags/ containers. Set them up for the week, then just grab 1 or 2 in the morning.
use cookie cutters to make your sandwich shapes to keep your kids interested.
use tupperware containers instead of plastic bags for you/kids lunches – sandwiches. crackers, fruit, veggies Also use reusable drink container instead of juice boxes
Tip: Make your meal plan according to what is on sale that week.
Tip: If your child likes to eat the same lunch over and over, save time by pre-cutting or pre-washing certain foods and keeping them in a container so that they are quick and easy to pack in the lunch kit.
Thanks for all the tips ladies! this is new to me this year. My tip would be to talk to other moms with school age children to get their ideas.
Depending on the age of your children, buy clothes that are on clearance for the following year (buying shorts in November for the upcoming spring/summer). This works for younger kids – as older ones are more picky. This has saved me tons of money.
Tip: To save money buy a large block of cheese and make your own cheese sticks or make your own “fun shapes” using mini cookie cutters. Cut it up on the weekend and you’ll have enough to last you all week (or longer).
Plan for leftovers for lunches.
stock up on school supplies. just learned from a TV show that the best time to buy school supplies is around the Christmas season
Bake cookies and/or cupcakes and pre-package them in small reusable ziplock bags (or plastic wrap) and then they are ready to pop into lunch bags. Kids always look forward to their “treat.”
Buy general office supplies for the home during or at the end of back to school season, when they go on sale. Best prices of the year!
Costco’s regular prices are often more expensive than a good sale at the regular stores, and their quantities are often too much for a smaller family/single person. So I buy at Costco mainly when things are on sale, and split larger packs with a friend so nothing goes stale/expires.
Use towels and rags to wipe up little messes, rather than paper towels. Easier on both the pocketbook and the environment!
Make your own household cleaning products. Dish soap and water combination is just as good as Mr.Clean or Pinesol for cleaning floors… and usually has less scent/chemicals.
Cook at home, from scratch when possible. Bring leftovers to work or send them to school rather than eating out.
Get your child involved in packing their lunches/snacks. They are more likely to eat it if they had input into it!
Poor drinking boxes into a reusable thermos… This allows u to water them down if I want, and keep the box in your recycling bin at home… In Alberta u get 10 cents back per box at the depot! One of my kids won’t drink a whole box at a time and it prevents the juice from getting poured down the drain… Great to have with an afternoon snack or thrown in the fridge for the next day.
Throw last nights leftovers into a tortilla to make a quesadilla! Sandwiches get boring after a while and you can throw anything into a quesadilla! I’ve even done ham, egg and cheese!
i always buy end of season clothes for the following year just buy a size or two larger than what they wear now
Buy school supplies around Christmas time when they are on sale and stock up for next year. Have a group of parents tackle certain items off school supplies and swap for what you need.
The day after Halloween, head to the grocery store to stock up on the healthier treats – they will be 50% off.
Money saving tip – always save your receipts for a couple weeks from Toys R Us, Babies R Us, American Eagle, the Bay, the Gap…these places offer price adjustments.
Stop buying stuff simply because it’s on sale! Think first if it is something you or the family needs or will even use before it expires. If it expires before using it might as well just toss those few dollars in the trash and save a trip to the store.
buy reusable fabric snack/sandwich bags. a one time expense, and you never have to buy bags again
grow your own garden… you can save lots of money by canning & freezing produce
bake your own cookies/sweets for lunches. put extras in the freezer.
one thing that has saved me lots of money is using cloth diapers and reusable cloth wipes. it’s a one-time investment, that saves you hundreds of $$ in the long run, lasting you through several children.
one of the ways I save money is buying a few extra kids gifts if I see things on sale. Have plenty of kids to buy for. I recently got various crayola art supply kits for $3 or $4 that are selling most other places for $12 or $13. The value in gifts is there and helps budgeting.
juice boxes. They cost a fortune most places and have found recently that dollarama has these cute mini bottles about the same size that are perfect. I make 6 at a time and then my kids can take as they want no fuss. WAY CHEAPER!
Wash your oven racks in your tub. (place a towel down, put your oven racks on top, sprinkle with laundry detergent, cover with straight hot water, wait 3 hours (or overnight) the baked on grease just slips off!) Saves you from buying that stinky oven cleaner (laundry detergent smells so much better), and you don’t have such a mess in the kitchen.
buy extra school supplies that are on sale for next year
flyers flyers flyers!!!love them
We save a ton of money every year simply by not having cable or satellite TV in our home. We get 3 TV stations that play the few shows we do watch and if their is anything else we would like to see we have high speed internet for it.
don’t buy pre portioned snacks if there is a bulk pack available. the price is often the same but you get more with the bulk pack. it only takes a few seconds to portion into a reusable container.