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Your School Supply Shopping Guide

Education may be priceless, but the supplies aren’t free!

It’s that time of year to scramble the stores for school supplies. Or maybe you prefer to school supply shop online. It’s fun, exciting and stressful at the same time! The National Retail Federation expects families with elementary to high school students to spend $696.70. Pencils, notebooks, tissues, markers… the list just goes on and on. On top of the basics you also may need to shop for the extracurricular items needed for sports, band, or other activities.

Here is a cheat sheet for a budget-friendly A+ school supply shopping experience:

Manufacturer coupons

You can easily score some savings with manufacturer coupons. Family-oriented magazines and newspapers are a great place to look or you could do a google search. Some manufacturers offer coupons you can have downloaded to your device or easily print off. Here are some coupon offerings from post-it.com.

Dollar Stores

Dollar stores are great for school supplies shopping. Calculators can be found for just $1. On top of that you can look for manufacturer coupons to use at a dollar store and find that the discount offered on the coupon may cover the full cost of the item. Freebies!

Price Matching Stores

A few retailers that offer price matching include Staples, Kohls, Office Depot/Office Max and Jo-Ann Fabrics. Compare ads or use the Amazon app to find the lowest prices on items and get the best deals.

Figure Out the Best Days to Shop

For example, Old Navy will cut prices on Thursdays and do their clearance markdowns on Monday nights. Friday mornings and Tuesday mornings are good times to head to Old Navy. Macy’s begins marking down prices on Sundays making mid-week the best time to look at Macy’s.

Don’t Forget Your Debit and Credit Card Rewards

Bridge Credit Union’s debit card holders are automatically enrolled in Ampre Rewards which means cash-back rewards! Click here to log in and check on your Ampre rewards for your favorite places to shop. Our Visa Rewards Credit Card also offers cash-back and other rewards options. Click here to log view credit card offerings or log in and view your points info.

Tax-Free Weekend

Sales tax free days in Ohio are August 2nd through August 4th. Throughout tax-free weekend in Ohio, the following items are exempt from sales tax: school supplies priced at $20 per item or less, school instructional material priced at $20 per item or less, clothing priced at $75 per item or less.

How Bridge is Giving Back

As a parent, shopping for basic school supply needs and the added extracurricular activity costs can add up and become overwhelming. It’s important to also recognize that many teachers spend upwards of $500 every year to keep their classrooms stocked and provide a better experience for the kids. This year throughout the month of August, Bridge Credit Union is hosting a school supply drive to give back to the Columbus and Dayton Ohio communities.

Click here to see how you can help in Dayton.
Click here to see how you can help in Columbus.

 

We will be collecting school supplies donations at our branch locations. Every little bit helps!

Sources:

thekrazycouponlady.com

www.tax.ohio.gov

https://www.cuinsight.com/back-to-school-tips-for-credit-union-members.html