By Bobbi Burger Brunoehler of BobbisBargains.
nSeika/flickr
No matter how you educate your children, it is pretty hard to miss the start of the new school year. While parents of students going to traditional schools are saving money on school supplies, parents of homeschoolers, like me, look for ways to save money on curriculum.
There are as many different ways to homeschool as there are homeschoolers. But in general it breaks down to either following traditional academic age/grade appropriate guidelines on what a student should know (so that you can pop your kid back into a traditional curriculum at any time and they wouldn’t be behind) or following a child-led curriculum, called unschooling in some circles.
If you are following a traditional curriculum,
Illustration by OConnorCartoons.com
Back to school – Vista Print is offering 10 freebies right now, many of which can be used as back to school supplies. Unclear how long the promotion lasts.
Restaurant.com – The latest Restaurant.com coupon code gets you 80% off! Expires Aug. 31, 2010.
Free sample – Get a free sample of Aveeno Nourish shampoo and condition for sharing a little info about yourself. Unclear when this offer ends.
Big sale at Gap, Old Navy, and Banana Republic - Starting tomorrow through Sunday (Aug. 26-29) there is a big ol’ 30% off sale at Gap, Old Navy, and Banana Republic. You can feel good about spending, too, because 5% of what you buy goes to a charity of your choosing. I want a new sweater!
Free movie rental – Rent one movie from Blockbuster Express and get the second movie rental free. Expires today!
Check out all the coupons and deals on my WalletPop blog.
jonclegg/Flickr
Back to school – This morning I updated the back to school supplies freebies and deals. Staples has the best deals this week.
Quiznos – The $3 Quiznos coupon is back! I love this coupon because it makes lunch so cheap. For $2.99 you get a small sub, regular fountain drink, and chips. Not too shabby!
Smashbox – The beauty sale going on at Smashbox has limited edition and discontinued products marked down by 25-50% off. Ends Sept. 10, 2010.
Free gym – Get a free 7-day pass to Gold’s gym. Unclear when this offer expires.
Check out all the coupons and deals on my WalletPop blog. Got a coupon to share?
Do you plan to buy back to school supplies at your local dollar store? My feeling is back to school supplies do not need to be high quality, with the exception of a sturdy backpack. Pens, pencils, and lunch boxes will disappear like that, so why invest a lot in them?
I’ve seen notebooks, pencils, loose paper, pens, folders, and pen/pencil cases for $1 each at the Dollar Tree. And the latest 99 Cent Only Stores ad (locations in CA, AZ, NV, and TX) advertises the following items for $1 each:
- 12-pack of Paper Mate pens
- 5-pack of mechanical pencils
- 8-pack colored pencils
- 12-pack of crayons (more…)
Illustration by OConnorCartoons.com
A roundup of coupons from Savings.com and my blog on WalletPop.
Vista Print - Get a ton of free back to school supplies through Vista Print. You pay for shipping only.
Swagbucks - Join Swagbucks by Sunday, August 15, 2010 and get a total of 70 swagbucks (30 for signing up plus 40 as a bonus)
Restaurant.com – Their latest restaurant discount is for 80% off!
Shoesteal.com - Get 15% off your entire purchase at Shoesteal.com. Expires January 31, 2011.
Winn-Dixie - If you live in the South, check out this awesome Winn-Dixie coupon on Tide and household cleaners.
Sally Beauty – Get 20% off your entire order at Sally Beauty Supply. Expires August 31, 2010.
Barneys NY – Get 20% off all full-priced denim at Barney’s New York. Expires August 28, 2010.
LinenSource – Get 10% off your purchase at LinenSource. Expires August 28, 2010.
Home Depot - Join Home Depot’s garden club and you’ll get gardening coupons and tips.
stevendepolo/Flickr
This is a guest blog post by Stella Louise, editor of the personal finance blog at Savings.com. She is very grateful she only had to suffer through one year of geometry.
I recently researched back to school supplies and was astounded at how much is required to properly equip a child for the new school semester. At the risk of sounding like my parents, when I was a kid back to school shopping mainly consisted of a brand new pair of shoes and some updates to the wardrobe plus a couple of notebooks and some pencils.
But as school budgets cuts have increased with the ailing economy, more and more of the slashed funding has been offloaded to external sources. This explains not only the increase of school fundraisers, such as the adorable third grader from down the street panhandling $5 chocolate bars door-to-door, but also the increasingly gargantuan back to school supply lists.
When I was a kid (and granted, this was EONS ago…), I recall having an art independent study class where I painted for the entire semester. Canvas after canvas using the entire spectrum of acrylic paints and brushes of varying width and thickness to create my “masterpieces.” I ended up being voted (more…)
