Shopping Smarter: Save time & money, find cheap supplies & clothes, and get an “A” in back-to-school shopping

By Betsy Abbott

The box was ordinary like any other birthday gift. Rectangular, brightly wrapped and with a card attached, indistinguishable from all the other gifts piled before the young birthday girl. How was I to know the evil waiting inside?
But the moment my 10-year-old daughter stripped the paper off the box from that wretched tween clothing store Justice, I knew I was doomed to the deepest reaches of Back-to-School shopping Hell. Just the name itself sounds like that of a great demon snake: “Jusssss…tissss.” The bright pink, overly ripe lettering said to all the girl, “Yea! I am fun! I am young! Everyone luuurvs wearing me!” But to me, that big, puffy “i” dotted with a big heart said, “Yea! I’m from the Mall and I’m going to COST YOU A WHOLE LOT!”
When it comes to buying school supplies we are all doomed. The days of elementary schools being able to afford crayons and notebooks are long gone and every child is expected to bring essentials on the very first day of class. But never fear! Yellow Scene has ways to make back-to-school shopping a little less scary.
School Supplies
Step one, find your school’s supply list ASAP. Each school district has a list of required supplies for your child’s school and grade available by now. Some stores like Walmart and Target carry school lists for your convenience. Ask a more organized parent if you have to. This list is your best friend. Know it well and you will save both time and sanity points. Cheaper and Easier
Stick with the list. It’s tempting, I know. There you are, picking up that pack of #2 American made wooden pencils when you see that new purse. Don’t buy it. Stick to the list. Save money. Cheaper
Shop around. Most Moms I know wander around from Target to Staples to Costco with their supply lists stuffed in their purses all summer long, grabbing what’s on sale and marking it off the list. Or, like me, they wait until the last minute and find themselves shoving through crowds in the evenings fighting for that last Hello Kitty notebook. Here’s some good advice for dealing with the big retailers. Jennifer Hart of Louisville says Tuesday and Wednesday mornings tend to be the quietest days at Target.  She shops the ads and then heads in for what she wants. If you are taking the kids, make sure they are well rested and fed. Cheaper and Easier
Don’t take the kids. Seriously. So much easier without them. Easier
Price match ads. A lot of stores will match sale prices from rival stores’ coupons and ads. Cheaper
Pick a store and stick with it.  Go to the store of your choice, be it discounter, office supply, warehouse, online, or craft store, and just buy everything on the list. One and done. Easier
But when I saw that my now 7th grader—she of the Justice curse—needed a $99 Texas Instruments TI83 graphing calculator, I had to open up to other options and started asking around. Sandra Byrne of Superior recommends Dollar Tree: “I just bought a scientific calculator at Dollar Tree. They have lots of school supplies.” Cheaper
Do they ever! They have elementary school supplies, but not a huge variety and no brand names. And every single thing is $1. I don’t know if Dollar Tree’s scientific calculator has all the functions required but I got one anyway to compare with the one I got off eBay, which got me thinking…
Go online for big ticket items. “Don’t they have an app for that?” joked Emily Baer from Superior when I complained about the calculator cutting into my budget.  “I have two daughters in high school, both of whose first item on their supplies list was ‘laptop’.”
After checking out all the local stores online for TI83 prices, I went to eBay where I settled on a used calculator for $29.99. I say settled because, while I could have gotten one for only $25.00, I paid the extra $5 for one with a return option. Cheaper but Riskier
Go online for everything. Crayola has their own supply packs by grade level for under $30. Compare it to your school supply list, add on what’s missing, proceed to Checkout and Boom! you’re done. Easier
There’s also a variety of online stores working with schools to do the supply shopping for you and, in some cases, raise money for your school. Dana Inerfeld of Broomfield uses Kids Klutter. “As a working mom, I don’t have time to shop around.” The Order My Pack program works with many local schools as a fundraiser but its deadline passed in July. Ask your school if a program is available for next year.
If your child qualifies for reduced or free lunches they may qualify for Crayons to Calculators, a nonprofit organization providing basic school supplies to Boulder Valley and St. Vrain Valley students. Have extra school supplies? Crayons to Calculators have local drop off points throughout the region. CrayonsToCalculators.org Cheaper
Sign up for offers online. Many stores offer specials to customers on their email lists. Lafayette’s own Jax Mercantile gives early notice of upcoming sales and exclusive coupons. I keep a separate email just for this sort of thing so I don’t worry about spam. Cheaper
Clean out your drawers. Dig around in your arts and craft supplies, junk drawers and the kids’ toy boxes. Seriously, how many pairs of Fiskars Kids Classic Blunt Tip 5-inch Scissors do schools expect us to buy? I’m pretty sure if I dig around in the couch I will find enough erasers for all my kids. You, your friends, or family may have perfectly good flash drives, rulers, and calculators lying around. Take a look at those folders from last year. Many of them may be in great shape. You’re not being cheap, you are just following that whole “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle” lesson the kiddos learned last year on Earth Day. Cheaper
Shop really, really late. One last trick comes again from Jennifer Hart. “When the kids go to school, and everything gets marked down, I pick up pencils, crayons, paper, erasers, etc for half price and can restock throughout the year rather than paying full price.” Cheaper
Back to School Clothes
When I was inevitably dragged into the dreaded Justice store in the very depths of some wretched mall, with its walls dripping with happy sequined clothes, twinkly accessories, and adorable stuffies suicidally flinging themselves into my child’s eager hands, I understood for the briefest of moments, what Carrie White’s mother must have felt in the film Carrie (the superior 1976 version, obviously).
Shopping for back-to-school clothes is the true horror every parent faces. While $30 – $150 for school supplies may seem bad, at least schools have a limit to their monetary demands. But fashion’s price has… no… end.
School supplies and clothes share a lot of the same rules for survival. Make a list and stick with it. Clean out the closets to see what still fits and what the kids really need. Keep an eye out for sales and coupons at retail and discount stores. Compare prices. Shop around.
Consignment and thrift stores. This is where shopping local rules. It was that damn Justice store that enticed me into buying kids clothes at thrift stores and consignment shops. The moment I found a pair of size 10 Justice jeans at the ARC in Broomfield for $5.99—and then was half off of that—I became delirious. And when I found a pair of Burberry shorts for my youngest at Unique for $3.99, I was being all fancy like Iggy Azalea. North Denver and Eastern Boulder County have so many high quality second hand stores, it would be a sin not to check them out. Best of all, most stores have great Labor Day sales. Cheaper
When I’m feeling extra fancy, especially for my youngest, we go to consignment stores. I have been known to shove the kids straight into consignment clothes without even washing them, that’s how clean many of them are. For higher end name brands I go to Childish Things in Boulder. Kid to Kid in Arvada keeps it classy too with a big selection, and they carry some basic school uniform items too. If you don’t have time to cruise around from Goodwill to boutiques, ask around discreetly. Some moms keep the best places to themselves but if you compliment their child’s style they may let a few names slip.
Outlet and factory stores have better deals than regular stores of the same name. Here’s Jennifer Hart again, “I hit the outlets. Gymboree is my favorite. I get quality clothes for half off and while they are trendy and still ‘in style’ they are about half the price of going to a mall Gymboree and I earn gymbucks for holiday outfits!” I really need to go shopping with her, apparently. Cheaper
While we have no outlet mall around here, Loveland’s right up the highway—and boy do they love their outlet and factory stores. They’ve got Gymboree, Skechers, Polo, Tommy Hilfiger, Levi’s, Rue21, OshKosh, Nike, Reebok and more. Head South, way South, and there’s the Outlets at Castle Rock with much the same stores plus some big trendies like The North Face, Wet Seal, Columbia Sportswear, Hot Topic, Aeropostale, and H&M. Hang on, I’ll be fine, just let me just breathe into this paper bag for a while…
Once the snow starts, which could be any moment now, stop by the Silverthorne Factory Stores on your way to the slopes and you’ll find many of the same outlet stores.  But not North Face or H&M or Aero… I’ll need my paper bag again if I go on. One last trick: sometimes outlet and factory stores are right there out in the open at the mall or on the street. Keep an eye out for your favorites, check out their websites, or take a look at outlet-locator.com. I’d be checking out the Justice outlet store at Colorado Mills Mall if my oldest had not recently moved on from them. Suck it Justice!
If the consignment, thrift, and outlet stores don’t have what the kids want, give eBay, Amazon or other online retailers a try. The Internet has everything. Easier
Clothing exchanges, garage sales, and hand me downs. A lot of mom’s groups organize clothing exchanges once or twice a year. For every piece of child’s clothing you bring in you receive credit or a ticket. The clothes are organized by volunteers into gender, sizes and types, and on the day of the event you simply take as many clothes as you brought in. What is left over is then donated. I did this once and it was like shoplifting but without the fear of getting caught. Cheaper
I have heard the tale of far more organized moms than me setting up neighborhood clothing exchanges on their own with great success. Why quit with the hand me downs when the kids get older? Keep it up until they start saving their own money to buy what they want. Some people have good luck with garage sales but I have never had the patience to go door to door when there’s always a half price sale around the corner. Cheaper
And for those of you with plenty of money, no time, or a willingness to stand at the edge of the abyss and stare into the darkness, you could always hand your kids a credit card, gift cards, or cash, and simply drop them off at the mall. Now that’s really scary. Easier