Tips to Save Money While Back-to-School Shopping, Including How to Buy in Bulk and How to Keep Coupons in Mind

Lifestyle expert Veena Crownholm shared some tips with Inside Edition on how to save money when stocking up on the items children will need for their next year at school.

As parents and their kids hit the stores for back-to-school supplies, lifestyle expert Veena Crownholm has some tips on how to save money when stocking up on the items children will need for their next year at school. 

“My No. 1 tip for being most efficient with your budget going back to school is buy in bulk,” she told Inside Edition. 

For instance, the more notebooks a person buys, the lower the cost in some stores.  

“If you buy 13 of these notebooks, they go from $2.49 to 50 cents,” she explained while walking Inside Edition through an Office Depot in Los Angeles, California. “You can get a better deal if you buy [a pack of] the 50 pens and split them up between five or 10 families in the neighborhood." 

Buyers can also share other popular items like glue sticks and post-It notes, and those familiar with back-to-school shopping advise always having a shopping list on the ready so that you don’t buy what you don’t need.  

Crownholm also suggested that something old can become something new.  

“This is an old water bottle my 11-year-old had and he wanted something new, so we went on Amazon and got these stickers and it’s super cute and new all of a sudden,” she said. 

Patches added to an old backpack or lunch bag can also make them look fresh and new.  

And the tried-and-true shopping tip of coupon-clipping remains ever essential when looking to cut costs.  

“I’m a coupon-clipper and the more I see on the bottom that says discount or how much off, it excites me,” said Annie Kumpibal, a mother who Inside Edition spent time with as she went back-to-school shopping. 

“You look at that receipt and you go, boom, boom, boom, savings, savings, savings, savings!” said Sarah Svendsen, another mom who Inside Edition followed as she shopped for back-to-school supplies.  

Because Kumpibal and Svendsen saved so much buying in bulk, they allowed their children to each pick one cool off-list, back-to-school item to add to their carts.  

The kids have fun, and the moms celebrate saving money—and finishing the yearly shopping trip. 

“We completed the list!” Kumpibal exclaimed and Svendsen cheered before drawing her in for a hug. “Woo!”  

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