For those of you who don’t know, I am slightly very obsessed with school supply shopping. As a kid, it was always my favorite time of the school year. I didn’t know that once I became a teacher, I was going to be able to take this obsession to a new level (I think was secretly a reason I became a teacher). Over the last few years, I (along with my amazing mom) have perfected the art of back to school, school supply shopping.
In July, we start stalking the ads of our “go to places” (OfficeMax/Office Depot & Staples). We have also come up with a system to get the most bang for our buck. Most of the deal require you to spend a minimum of $5 in order to get the great deals. There are always bigger supplies that I need for my classroom that are more expensive. I use those items to get me to my $5 minimum purchase. My mom still has to buy supplies for my sister who is in high school, so she uses those supplies to get her to the $5 minimum and then gets the great deals for me (I told she was amazing).
Well … this week the amazing deals started and I was stoked! I called my mom right away and begged her to go with me that afternoon. Unfortunately, the Staples here closed since last summer, so I am limited to shopping at just OfficeMax & Office Depot (there is a Staples about 35 minutes away, and I am tempted to go a few times … is that crazy?). Each week, I will post a review of the deals I found for the week and how you can get them.
So, the deals for the week are only from OfficeMax/Office Depot (they always have the same deal/ads). I want to start off my telling you how much I spent with tax and then I will give you a detailed list of what I bought (there is also a picture at the top of the post).
I spent a total of $6.35. That’s right … only $6.35!
Here is the detailed list of what I got … next to each item is how much I spent and in parentheses is the original price.
- 10 – 2 pocket folders (with or without prongs) $0.01 each/$0.10 total ($0.15/$1.50 total)
- 3 – 7″ scissors (bigger scissors for middle school hands) $1.00 each/$3.00 total ($5.00 each/$15.00 total)
- 3 – 12 packs of pencil top erasers $0.25 each/$0.75 total ($1.00 each/$3.00 total)
- 3 – 5 packs of BIC highlighters $0.50 each/$1.50 total ($3.29 each/$9.87 total)
- 3 – colored Sharpies $0.50 each/$1.50 total ($2.49 each/$7.47 total)
My biggest suggestion when you are shopping the deals like this is to make sure you read the fine print with the deals. Most times there is a limit on how many you can purchase (this week it seemed like the limit was always 3). Some also have a minimum purchase of $5.00 (this week the folders were the only item with this stipulation). In addition to the items I purchased, there were also notecards for $0.50 (limit 3), notebook 3 hole punches $1.00 (limit 3), mini staplers $1.00 (limit 3), and rulers $0.25 (limit 3).
If you have any questions or suggestions, let me know! I would be more than happy to help. Come back next week for round 2 of back to school savings!
Here is the link to the Office Depot/Office Max ad for this week. This is not an endorsement for the companies and I am not being paid to publish this article. I am simply doing because the deals are too good not to share with everyone.
Mrs. Bretz's Exceptional Falcons 