School Clothes on a Budget

With the start of a new school approaching, you may be concerned with how you will pay for clothing for your kid(s). Keep a list of what you have and what you still need. Keeping this list in your purse or wallet will ensure that you don't end up with 20 t-shirts and only 3 pairs of pants. Here are some tips to help you save money during this expensive time of the year.

Shop Throughout the Year.

This is really the most economical way to shop for your kids' clothes and what I try to do. If you can buy clothing for the next year when it is on clearance you will save a lot of money. The best times to buy clothing on clearance is in August/September for summer clothing and January to March for winter clothing. I buy the next size up and the clothes usually fit the kids fine the next year. For the little ones, my maximum price for clearance clothing is $3 a piece, although once in a great while I will find an awesome outfit I just love, especially for my daughter, and will splurge a little, but I still get it for a significant savings. For my older son I look for jeans for less than $15 (though I often find them from $5-$10) tshirts for $5 or less and long-sleeved shirts for $10 or less. As of right now, I have enough pairs of pants and tshirts for him to start the new school year. I may have to buy him a few long-sleeved shirts but will watch for sales and coupons to do that.

Sign up for Stores' Newsletters and Emails.

By signing up with the stores, you will get coupons and ads in your inbox and sometimes your mailbox. I am signed up with several companies and I get coupons several times a week in my email and at least once a week in my mailbox. Many times I do not use them, but it's nice to have them in case I need to buy school clothes for the kids or new work clothes. Several times a year I receive a $10 off $10 coupon from JCPenney and other department stores. I, of course, make sure I use these coupons and keep the price as close to $10 as possible. I usually use this as an opportunity to buy something nice for myself, which I so seldom do.

Watch for Sales and Coupons in Weekly Ads.

Each week, the Sunday paper has weekly ads for store sales. If you need certain things, take advantage of the sales and get them then. Why pay full price for anything? With school starting soon, there will be lots of deals on school supplies and clothes. Just have patience and wait for the good sales.

Rummage Sales and Thrift Stores.

Sometimes you can find high-end clothing for yourself and your kids second-hand, sometimes even with tags still attached. Look for rummage sales in nice areas or when communities have area yard sales. Most kids will not even know the difference between the new and used.

Don't Forget about Craig's List, Ebay.

Check out Ebay to find both used and new clothing for your kids. You can even find high end clothing on there. Craig's List is awesome because you can buy a bunch of clothes cheap and you don't have to dig though the clothes like you would at a rummage sale. I have gotten bags of clothes for the kids for around $20 each bag. You're also keeping money in your local community by buying from your neighbors.

Use Rebates and MyPoints.

Sometimes you will find rebates or rewards for products you buy. Make sure you send in all pertinent information and do it as soon as you can, that way you do not forget to do it. Keep copies of everything you send in, along with the date sent and company information. This will help in case you do not get your refund and need to get a hold of the company. MyPoints is awesome if you do shopping online. You get a certain amount of points for every dollar you spend at participating sites. When you reach a certain amount of points, you can cash them in for gift certificates to restaurants or stores. You can get points by shopping at Barnes and Nobles, Target, and Amazon, among many others.

I hope this helps you save money this school year. If you have any other ideas on how to save money on buying clothes at this time of year, please leave them in my comments.

Preparing a List for Shopping - Using Coupons

The other day I was asked how I go about deciding what I am going to buy each week. I have to tell you that it really is a pretty simple process and does not take that long.

The first thing I do (usually on a Sunday afternoon) is make sure all of that day's coupons have been put into the correct section of my coupon holder. Then I look through an ad - usually Tops. If you look on the first page (sometimes the last page also), there are sales on there called the Loss Leaders. These are the deals that are supposed to get you in the door to buy other more expensive things, while you pick up the sale item. Don't fall for this though. Only buy things that are on sale, preferably when you have coupons for these products.

As I am looking through the ad, I circle things that are a good price. I know what I usually pay for the items I buy most, so I know whether or not a price is really good or not. If I think there might be a coupon, I note that next to the item also. After I am done looking through the ad, I look through my coupon holder and find the coupons that correspond with the sales. I then take a piece of paper (I try to use the back of a printed scrap paper so I am not wasting paper) and write down my list of items. I then attach my coupons to my list with a paperclip. I am now ready to go shopping. I also bring my coupon holder just in case I find a bargain that I didn't know about when I did my list.

So, there you have it. That's how I prepare for grocery shopping. How do you prepare for a grocery shopping trip?

Tops Shopping 4/18/09

Went shopping at Tops yesterday. They had some pretty good deals.

• 2 Liter Pepsi - $.69 with special coupon
  
• 5 2 Liters of Pepsi - on sale for $.99 each - $4.95
• Lipton/Knorr sides -on sale for $1 each = $4 - 2 coupons for $.75 off 2 which were both doubled ($3) = $1 or 25 cents each
• 3 bags Malt-O-Meal cereal Buy Two Get One Free with Tops coupons - $6.87 - $1.99 = $4.88 for 3 bags or $1.63 each bag
• Oreos (we usually don't buy these but they sounded good) $1.99 with special coupon
• Tops sandwich bread - on sale for $.88
• 3 boxes of Tops popcorn - on sale for $1 each
• Tops crackers - on sale for $1.67
• 2.81 pounds of bananas = $1.66
• 1 green pepper = $1
• 2 pounds of onions = $1.29
• Ball Park hot dogs = on sale for $2.50
• DiGiorno pizza - $3.99 with special coupon
• DiGiorno pizza - on sale for $4.50
• hot sausage links = on special for $2.12 a pound = $6.18
• Tropicana 50 = $2.50 - $1 coupon = $1.50
• 2 gallons of milk - $2.15 each
  

Total Before Savings: $84.09
BonusCard Savings: $29.46
Coupon Savings: $7.31
Total Paid: $47.85 (saved 43.1%)

I Hate When DH Goes to the Store...

but I had no choice but to let him go by himself. I've been sick the last 2 days and standing up for any period of time is just nor good!! He took the Little Princess with him. She loves to go to store with, especially to Wegmans because they have the little carts she can push around.

He actually didn't do too badly. Wegmans recently announced that they have cut prices on groceries that people need the most, like bread, peanut butter, etc. A regular size loaf of white bread is normally $1.29 at Walmart and $1.69 at Tops. Wegmans had it for 99 cents!!! They also had my 2 liters of Pepsi for $1 each. This is the only time I will buy them I HATE paying more than that. He bought 3 loaves of bread, 3 2-liters of diet Pepsi for me, a pound of deli ham, a pound of deli turkey, 6 pack of rolls (they were pricey - $2.50!) and apples. So, we had sandwiches for dinner. I know it's not the healthiest, but it sure beats eating out!! Oh I forgot. Wegmans also reduced their price on a Jumbo pack of Huggies from $10.89 to $9.59. Anytime it's less than $10 it's a good price now. I had given DH 2 coupons just in case and he bought 2 packs.

We now have about $20 for next week's groceries. No problem! I will just meal plan for the week (until Thursday), stick to my list, and, of course, shop at Aldi's.