WFMW: Saving Money on Back to School

Every year I spend too much money making sure my kids have what then need to go back to school.  This year we are broker than broke so I was trying to come up with ways for them to still have what they need without breaking the bank.  Here is what I did:

• First we went through their old school supplies to see what they could re-use from last year.  (we do this every year, but this year I was a little more firm about re-using rulers, backpacks and such)
• Then we went to a dollar store and bought as much as we could from there.  Why pay $0.79 per duotang when we can get them 4/$1.00?
• Next we watched the flyers and bought things on sale and bought store brand over name brand.  If their teacher wants to specify "Crayola" pencil crayons then they can buy my kids supplies!  Sheesh!

Of course, as with every summer, they both grew a meter over summer vacation!  It must be all that fresh air!

• We went through their closets and pulled everything that was to small and set it aside to be donated at a later date (usually when the bag is full)
• We checked sales at shoe stores and department stores
• We bought jeans and some tops at second hand stores.  I managed to get both kids name brand jeans for $3.99 - $8.99 a pair!  I even picked myself up two pairs of jeans (since my pre-pregnancy jeans still require either spanx or a hanger to zip myself into them.  Ooops) 
• I allocated some of their birthday present budget to a few new outfits that weren't on sale.  They hate it when I do that, but do they really need more TOYS!  No.

Now my kids are ready for back to school and I didn't have to use a single credit card!  Score!

See more tips at Works For Me Wednesday!