With school just around the corner, I cleaned our school supply craft area. Did I mention this is a job that I hate to do? Like, seriously, I hate to do it. But… this is just the first step in sharing my budget-friendly back-to-school hacks. My boys love to color, play school, and create, so this area was a MESS. One rainy day, I decided to just do it, and I’m so glad I did. I found so many treasures that have saved me money as we prepare to go back to school.
Let’s face it, it is expensive to send our kids back to school or get ready for school, whether you homeschool, private school, or public school, it is expensive! To cut financial corners and make sure I don’t have to take out a loan to send my kids back to school, here are some back-to-school budget-friendly hacks.
- Clean out and find what you currently have, so you won’t have to buy it again. My craft area clean-out saved me over $50 in supplies that I forgot I had and there was no need to purchase again.
- Search the stores for good deals for back-to-school. It may take a little more time and a little more running around, but price the supplies and things you need for school at various stores. It is worth the time to save on what you need.
- Clothes Swap. I lived on what we called HAND ME DOWNS when I was growing up. As the only girl, my mom would swap boys’ clothes with her friends who had boys and score me some amazing clothes from her friends who had girls. Arrange a swap; it could help out more than just yourself!
- Thrift. This is fun for some and a nightmare for others. I love the treasure hunt, and I make a list of things my boys need and always keep my eye out for those things as I thrift.
- Reusable Lunch containers. We made the switch to neat little boxes to put the boys’ lunches in instead of wasting all the baggies, and it afforded us to pack leftovers and make good use of the food we already had for lunches.
- Amazon Cart. I like to put things I need in my Amazon cart, and they will notify me if they become cheaper or are marked down, and then it is a good time to snag or stock up on what we need.
These are just a few budget-friendly back-to-school hacks. Do you have your own back-to-school hack that’s not already on this list? Please share in the comments below! We all have to navigate the climbing prices in our economy; how do you save with back-to-school?
