Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Works for Me Wednesday: Cheap School Supplies

It's super cheap school supply sale time! I admit that I'm a huge school supply addict. I love a good sharp pencil, love the smell of a box of crayons and think that new glue sticks are just wonderful! I have a school supply drawer that overflows in crayons, folders, rulers, pens (variety of colors), pencils (mechanical and traditional), erasers, glues (liquid and stick), markers (fat, skinny and dry erase), highlighters (long, short, fat, skinny, refillable), colored pencils, and paper (spiral and loose). Don't worry. I share my loot. My nieces and nephew know that Aunt Amy's school supply drawer is open all year long. Do you know what a drag it is to pay full price for school supplies in January? I start all of them out with some basic school supplies at the beginning of the year. Obviously, I tailor their loot bag to what is on their list. My sister has already called to see what she can get from me and skip purchasing altogether!

I stopped by Staples and Walgreen's on my way home from work. Look at what I got! Between the two stores, I got $38.50 worth of school supplies for a whole $4.15. The bottom right three items were rebate things from Staples, but I ran the Easy Rebate already and it is in process. The Papermate pens were 9 cents a package, the Papermate mechanical pencils and rulers were 19 cents each, Bic highlighters and paperclips were 49 cents and the Pentel pens were $1.00 for the package.

Keep in mind that Walmart will match a competitors ad pricing at their registers. Make certain to take your ads with you and that it is the exact item pictured, during the same ad week run (sometimes Staples only offers specials through Wednesday) and that you only get the precise limit printed. I've gone to Walmart to ad match when there have been several ads with items (sometimes up to 5 or so.) Kmart is particularly horrible at having items in stock that they have on sale, so most of the time I have Walmart ad match to them. They WILL not ad match coupon sales (like in the Walgreen's ad. They must be an advertised item, not a clip-out coupon item.)

Important to know-- I don't go out of the way to get the cheap school supplies. Sure, I can get supplies sometimes as low as a penny, but it isn't worth it if I've just paid out $5.00 in gas to get there. If I'm in close proximity, I'll stop in. Since Walgreen's is just up the street from us, I'll probably stop in again for some more mechanical pencils.

Places that I've gotten rock bottom school supply items:
Staples
Office Max
Kmart
Target
Walmart
Walgreen's

Happy school supply shopping! May an inexpensive 64 count box of sharp, intoxicating smell filled crayons be in your shopping basket soon! :)

Smiles in my day:
- Cheap school supplies.
- Cooler temperatures.
- Though I was concerned and slightly freaked out at first, the neighbors didn't choose to put an overly bright light over their garage like their neighbors/renters (who are blinding us with the light in a Poltergeist kind of fashion. "Go towards the light Caroline!")

Pick-Up Fairy Count:
- Giraffe book
- Roll of tape gum
- Polly Pocket car
- Musical twirly/clacky instrument
- Rush Hour Game
To my WFMW readers- The Pick-Up Fairy visits our home in the evening after K- falls asleep. Whatever items that she has not picked up, the fairy confiscates for 1 week. Our home has stayed tidier over this past week than it has been in quite a while. Hooray!
Blog Hop '09 Giveaway! From July 23-29, 2009 (at 9:00 PM EST), I'm giving a $10.00 Target gift card away to a lucky winner. Come on by!

7 comments:

Genny said...

$4.15? That is such a deal! I haven't even thought about school supplies yet. You are way ahead of me...lol!

Stopping by for WFMW. :)

Amanda said...

You got one good deal!! I can't believe it's almost time for school supplies!

Come stop by my blog ~ I’m sharing a tasty thing I found that works for me and my daughter, which you’ll see LOL. Plus I have a little info on a Non-BlogHer party going on with GIVEAWAYS and fun!! http://www.garibaysoup.com

Rach said...

Oh, I'm such a FIEND for cheap school supplies! I used to supply my students with all they needed so I HAD to find the best bargains. I have LOADS of paper and notebooks in my garage from when Target drops their prices to 75% off. I get BOXES of loose leaf for $2. Seriously! :o)

No confiscations from the "hiccup" fairy yet...we'll see. ;o)

Jamie said...

I love cheap school supplies too! I went a little nuts a few years ago buying tons of penny and less than 10 cent items that were on clearance just so that we'd have it during the school year.

We're lucky that our district provides everything for the kids, so I may have to replace a torn folder or send in an extra notebook. I still have a ton of stuff left! I had to start a rubbermaid bin just for the school supplies because I had gone so overboard. I try to replace markers and colored pencils every year when they go on clearance because they are the things that get worn and are used the fastest. But I refuse to spend more than a few cents on those things.

And no, I don't go out of my way for anything either. We don't have a Staples or Walgreens within 20 miles, so I miss out on their deals.

Michelle said...

I just stopped by Staples tonight and we picked up those free after rebate products :) Also did you see the back pack? It's 100% free on your staples reward - I would have picked up one of the $99 backpacks to get $99 in Staples Rewards and turn around and use that to buy ink - but Kayla doesn't really need one of those kind for school - so I went with the less expensive $35 one :) But still FREE in staples rewards!

Walgreens was on my list too - 9c for posterboard and those pens for a dollar - you get a dollar register reward back on them too.

I also use CVS for great deals and free after the ECBs they give you - they had some specials this week that only ran through Tuesday though.

Bailey's Leaf said...

We didn't need the back pack. I bought her an LL Bean back pack a few years ago and we all know about their lifetime warranty. She'll have that thing-- or a replacement-- forever!

Jenn said...

Wow. You are quite the thrifty shopper. I need to do more comparison shopping. BTW...I found you through a comment at Homeschool Creations. I am enjoying reading your blog.

Love the Pick-up fairy idea. I'll have to try that with my four kiddos!!