School Supply Finds

     Any teacher will tell you that when it comes to school supplies, we know where to find the deals, how many we can get, and how many extra bodies we will need to get the amount we need!  Let's face it, school supplies are not cheap, especially when you are buying for 20+ students.  My teacher friend and I were discussing the other day that if it were possible, we would open a store in our area that only sold school supplies.  Nothing would be more than $5, and we would run awesome sales.  However, since that dream is not likely to become a reality, we just stick to smart shopping at all the current stores.  The main stores we hit up are Wal-Mart, Office Depot, Office Max, and Staples.  I will sometimes go to The Dollar Tree, however, just remember, you can usually find everything you need for UNDER $1 with all the penny sales and other great deals at the stores I mentioned earlier.

So let's get into the deals.  First of all, I wanted to share with you some of the goodies I picked up last week.  

Office Depot
Office Depot had two sales that my friend and I were interested in mainly.  They had 10-count eraser caps for 10 cents a pack and folders with prongs for 10 cents each.  The great thing about Office Depot is that if you are a teacher, you can get triple the max for regular customers (at least at our home store).  So we could snag 30 folders whereas the general public could only get 10.  We were excited about the erasers, but alas, they were sold out when we made it over to that area. 

Office Max
The two deals here that we found to be great were 100-count index cards for a penny and 10-count Papermate mechanical pencils for 50 cents a pack.  At Office Max, you can get up to 10 of the sale items.  So I paid 10 cents for 10 packs of index cards!  We couldn't find the mechanical pencils here, but we found them later on at another store.

Staples
I really only needed one deal from Staples and that was the 2-count pack of black Sharpies for 25 cents.  So you would think being a teacher has its perks in every school supply store.  Well, Staples is one of the exceptions in my opinion.  Last year, we were able to get the quantity we needed no problem.  But this year, Staples has changed the rules.  Now you can only get a quantity of TWO, yes only TWO, of the sale item at the 25 cent price.  You can get up to 25 packs of the Sharpies, however, after 2 packs, you start paying the $1 a pack price.  The employee we asked about it assured us that if we had a "rewards card" (which, of couse, we do), that we would get the money back on it.  This is just me, but if I am going to get a deal, I want the sale price NOW.  I don't want to have to wait for a quarterly rewards check to get back my money and then I can only spend it at Staples.  How clever, huh?  So my advice, take your Staples ad somewhere else and price match.

Wal-Mart
So I saved the best for last.  I know a lot of people have qualms about Wal-Mart, but honestly, I save a lot of money there and it is where I do the bulk of my shopping.  The AWESOME thing about Wal-Mart, is that if you find a price cheaper somewhere else, they will price match it for you.  Remember the mechanical pencils from Office Max?  We were so excited when we were fishing through a bin and found the 10-count packs (buried under the 20-count packs, I might add)! They were $2.97 at Wal-Mart, but thanks to our Office Max ad, price matched to 50 cents!! :)

Here are a few tips to ensure that you find the best deals:

1. Plan! If you just show up hoping to get a good deal, you won't turn up as much as you expected.  Either subscribe to the Sunday paper to get all the ads OR do what I do, check them on-line on Sunday morning. Then you know exactly where to go and what you're looking for.  It will save you time and money... I promise!!

2. Make sure to ask each store what quantity a teacher is allowed to buy.  Every store is different, but teachers 9 times out of 10 can get double or triple the amount listed to the general public.

3. Bring a friend with you! Even if your friend is not a teacher, they can still buy the max quantity for you and you are still getting more for less.

4. Make sure to pick up a sale ad in each place you shop.  KEEP this ad all week if you do not get what you want at the beginning of the week.  A lot of times when the supply stores are out of stock of an item, I can just hop over to Wal-Mart and get everything I need and price match it.  And the wonderful thing about Wal-Mart is that there is no limit of what you can buy like the supply stores!

5. Keep your receipts! Anything bought for your classroom can be written off of your taxes!!! :)


Want to know what deals I'll be shopping for this week?

At Office Depot, I will be getting the 25 cent composition note books.  These are great for math, writing, or reading journals.  Take them to Home Depot or Lowe's and they can cut them in half for you! I will also be getting some of the colored reams of paper for just $2 a ream!  That's the cheapest I have seen it anywhere (including Wal-Mart).  Office Depot also has rulers and protractors for 25 cents each. Scissors, Poly 2-pocket folders, and individual Sharpies will run you 50 cents each.

At Staples this week, you can get bottled glue, 2 pocket folders, and pencil cases for 1 cent each.  Staples also has 2-pack Bic pens for 50 cents, mechanical pencils for 50 cents a pack, 2-pack Bic liquid White Out for 50 cents, and translucent pencil boxes for 50 cents each.

I did not really see anything at Office Max that I need this week.  More than likely I will go to Wal-Mart and price match some goodies!

I hope this blog will help you organize your shopping trips to the supply store of your choice and that it will be eaiser to find what you need!

Have a Tidy Day!

Amanda