It’s almost back to school once more and that also means one thing: back to school shopping! For kids, going to the mall to shop for new school clothes and supplies might be one of the highlights of every school year. However, most moms might not find it an entirely enjoyable activity considering the hefty price tags of some school necessities. So to somehow lessen the pressure on mom’s budgets and wallets, here are a few tips on how to shop and get everything your child needs as economically as possible.
Invest in a bit pricey yet good quality products.
Recommending purchasing expensive products might be counterintuitive in a money-saving article. But do take note that the keyword here is “good quality” products. Buying one good quality item is cheaper than buying a number of cheap yet substandard items. Several moms swear by this hack especially when it comes to big ticket items such as trolley bags. Mommy Karla Mari shares that “I buy brands na pang-matagalan for trolley bags. True enough, gamit na ng kids for 3 years and pwede pa ulit magamit this year.” Mommy Donna Lynn agrees to this saying, “agree sa buying trolley bags na magandang brand because sulit dahil ginagamit everyday na dala lahat ng books. Mahal siya pero ilang years din magagamit.”
Opt for made to order or tailored uniforms.
Most moms prefer and advice having their kids’ uniforms sewn by their local modista, such as Mommy Rubi Ann who says that “I buy my own cloth and get my tita to sew uniforms for my kids.” Aside from coming off cheaper than the ones bought from schools, tailored uniforms fit better and could even last for more than 1 school year.
Raid your shelves.
Most schools these days provide students with a list of the required school supplies they need during the start of the school year. Before heading to the mall, try to raid your shelves and cabinets first of any leftover and still usable supplies from the previous year. Common supply leftovers could include plastic covers, art paper, and even pens and pencils. You can even recycle unused notebook pages and bind them together to form several new notebooks that can be used for the new school year. Doing so will not only save you a few pesos, but you’re saving the environment as well. You can then cross these out from your school supplies must-buy list.
Stick to your list.
After crossing out your on-hand items from the school list, its time to head to the mall to shop. But just look for and shop for the remaining items in the school list. School lists are intimidating and expensive enough as it is, so buying unlisted or extra supplies might prove to be wasteful and unthrifty.
Shop online for deals.
One good thing about online shopping is that it provides us a lot more options to choose from. Aside from purchasing brand new items from online stores (especially the ones priced lower than in malls), you can also hit mommy groups and even different online selling platforms for good deals from other moms. A number of moms sell their kids’ used or outgrown items for a fraction of the original price in Facebook BST (buy, sell, trade) groups and even Carousell or Shopee. Some good deals to watch out for are branded black shoes, rubber shoes, and even school bags.
Just remember, with these tips and a bit of diskarte, you need not spend a fortune on back-to-school shopping.
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