Back to School Bargains Can be Had for a Song

Indeed “bargain” is always a nice word to hear no matter who and for whom the bargain is targeted. Right now, however, mom’s and dad’s have to put their bargain radars pointed toward the stores who are offering the best deals for acquiring clothes, supplies, and even computers for their elementary, middle school, and high school kids who are heading back for yet another year of study and extracurricular school activities.

With more adults becoming computer literate, computers and bargains found online are making parents very happy that they decided to take junior up on his proposal to teach all he had to show his mom and dad about computer fundamentals—now bargain hunting for parents is a breeze and junior and junior’s sister are the happy beneficiaries.

Prioritizing is probably the way to begin back to school purchasing. First there are school supplies. The best places for general supplies such as notebooks, folders, pens, pencils, etc. will always be the discount “superstores” who usually advertise bargains year round. But now that school is soon to be back in session, stores such as Walmart, Target and Kmart have the consumer in mind. Remember that the superstores can afford to buy in bulk. Whenever a store buys in bulk the price comes down and these savings are then passed on to the consumer. Do not, however, count the dollar stores out for these products. They are not referred to “dollar stores” for nothing. After doing some price comparison, the dollar store venue may be an even better bargain. The only downside, the dollar store will not have the variety that the superstores will have on hand.

Next on the list are new clothes and accessories. Teenagers especially like this part of back to school shopping because it gives to them an opportunity to expand their wardrobe with the latest fashions, but clothes are not a cheap investment, so finding the best bargain for the nicest clothes takes investigating. But again, the online search engines have parents covered.

DealTaker.com at http://www.dealtaker.com/Retail-and-or-Internet-Deals-f8.html has some great bargain ideas plus offers coupons for even more savings. For example, the site is organized with links for online purchasing or in-store purchasing. It is further organized by age—elementary, middle school, high school, and college apparel and necessities. Retailers such as Kohl’s and JC Penney appear to be at the top of the list for everything from jeans, tees, jackets, sweaters, shoes, tennis shoes, skirts, dresses, even supplies such as bedding if the student is going away, all at discounted prices. The site has great graphics so the buyer can see just what is being offered, and if parents want to save even more time and money, the site offers free shipping.

Next, of course, is the big ticket item that every aspiring genius must have and that is the computer. Whether the preference is for a laptop or a stand alone, again the Internet has some great ideas for bargains. Since this will more than likely be the priciest investment, take time to see what retailers are offering. Rana Hunter whose blog Atlanta Bargain Hunter at http://blogs.ajc.com/atlanta-bargain-hunter, has some good advice for the back to school computer bargain. Believe it or not Walmart was tops in this department too, with their offer of a system as little as $350 that includes a laptop, 4 GB USB Flash Drive, case and wireless printer—stellar price for all that equipment. Walmart might be in addition to supplies a one stop to include a laptop too. In fact Walmart has now has 29 laptops to choose from, with manufacturers such as Acer, Toshiba and HP offering the best deals.

If an online purchase is the trend, check out the HP G62-219WM Laptop PC bundled with carrying case and flash drive for $448.

The consumer probably can never go wrong with going straight to the manufacturer and if an Apple computer is in your student’s future, Apple has a back-to-school promotion going on. With the purchase of any Mac computer a free iPod touch, a $199 value can also be had in the deal, which is sure to put a smile on any student’s face. 

Again these ideas are only a very small percentage of what is being offered at this time for the family on a budget, but with some savvy investigating and online ideas, suggestions, coupons and bargains, shopping this August does not have to put such a deep dent in parents’ pockets. Best of all everyone, even that finicky teenager, will be ecstatic and ready to return to school in style.