This giveaway includes great stuff like Hi-Liters, labels, GlueStics, binders, dividers, sheet protectors, Marks-a-Lot permanent markers, and t-shirt transfers. The gift basket has a retail value of over $50!

Avery recently partnered with Box Tops for Education. Now, when you purchase Avery school supplies for the new academic year you also receive Box Tops coupons to clip and return to your child’s school to be redeemed for cash. Each school then uses the cash at their discretion to purchase new supplies, fund programs, or buy much-needed equipment, computers, etc.

I know you’d like to win this great prize package from Avery. As usual, I have several ways for you to earn entries.  Of course, the more times you enter, the higher your odds of winning.  Here are your options:

1)  Leave a comment with something other than “enter me”. Tell me about the school supplies you like or maybe give me your favorite money saving tip.

2)  Tweet about this giveaway on twitter.  There is an easy tweet button to your right.  Be sure to leave your twitter name or status url in the comment box. You can earn 3 tweet entries per day.

3)  Follow @thriftymommy on twitter.

4)  Blog about this giveaway or mention it on some sort of forum. Leave a direct url so that I can easily find the info for your entry.

5)  Give this post a thumbs up on Stumble Upon, Digg It, add a link on Facebook, or some other way of promoting the giveaway.

6)  Add Thrifty Mommy and/or Keeping the Castle to your blogroll.

You can earn entries for each of these things that you do.  Please leave a separate comment for each one.  It just makes it easier for tallying entries and choosing a winner.

This contest ends Wednesday, September 9, 2009.  Winners will be contacted via email and will have 72 hours to respond.

Good luck everyone!

image from avery

Post from: Thrifty Mommy

Carson Dellosa offers quality books and supplements for grades preschool through eighth grade.  They also have grade books, planners, decorating supplies, motivational tools, resources for parents, and more.  

This Office Depot coupon is valid through August 29, 2009, however, Office Depot says that more coupons will be coming in the following weeks.  To stay on top of Office Depot sales, be sure to become an Office Depot fan.

Office Depot also has some penny specials going on this week.  These end tomorrow, but maybe you can still snag some of the deals.

Glue sticks – 25 cents
Book covers – 25 cents
5 1/2 “– 8” notebook – 25 cents

With $10 purchase, the following items are FREE:
Office Depot acrylic ruler
12-pack eraser caps
8-pack Scholastic crayons

Enjoy the savings!

Post from: Thrifty Mommy

• Free TUG Backpack with a $10 purchase (white supplies last)
• Free Crayola Crayon 24 pack
• Office Depot Composition Notebook – 50 cents
• Scissors (2-pack) – 25 cents
• Office Depot School Grade Portfolios – 5 cents
• Binders – 50 cents

This sale is good August 9-15, 2009.

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Free pourable glue

OD Clear Pencil Pouch – 5 cents

TUG Pencil Sharpener – 10 cents

10 count pencils – 25 cents

Enjoy the savings!

Post from: Thrifty Mommy

Some of their deals include:

• 2-pocket basic or prong folders $.01 each
• 12″ wood rules $.01 each
• OfficeMax 12-pack pencils $.10
• OfficeMax wide or college-ruled filler paper $.10
• marble composition notebook, wide or college-ruled, 100 sheet $.50
• BIC Cristal ball pens, black or blue, 10-pack, buy 1 get the 2nd for $.01
• Uni-Ball Jetstream pen 3-pack, get 1 get 1 for $.01
• Expo click dry erase marker 3-pack, buy 1 get 1 for $.01
• OfficeMax slim jewel case 50-pack, buy 1 get 1 for $.01

The list below is on sale for buy 2 get the 3rd for $.01:

• OfficeMax self-stick notes or binder clips
• all Post-It label pads
• all Post-It flag + single pens or highlighters
• all laminate or two-tone two-pocket folders
• all Book Sox, jumbo scented, extreme, and 3D book covers
• all Purell hand sanitizer
• all Iris plastic file storage
• all Fellowes bankers box storage boxes

Now is the time to stock up on items you will need during the upcoming year.  Enjoy the savings.

Post from: Thrifty Mommy

This week’s penny specials are:

Pourable Glue – FREE
OD Clear Pencil Pouch – $0.05
TUG Pencil Sharpener – $0.10
10 count pencils – $0.25

I also checked the sales ad online for my area and found these items on sale:

Compass with refillable pencil $0.05
Scholastic 4-pack glue sticks $0.20
1″ binder $0.75

Be sure to check the ad in your area. It’s easy. Just go to OfficeDepot.com, click on the sale ad in the right upper corner, and then enter your zip code.

Happy saving!

Post from: Thrifty Mommy

Other back-to-school promotions at Staples…

• Increased discounts on Staples Brand items, like the Better Binder and ACCEL Notebook.
• Staples is offering a series of weekly penny and dollar specials that provide significant savings on basic school supplies.
• You can access back-to-school supply lists at their welcome back to school center plus see special weekly online and in-store school supply sales and discounts.
• For teachers and homeschoolers there’s a special teacher’s saving section as well.

Of course sales are expected to be ongoing and pretty soon everywhere will be running the big no tax back-to-school savings as well. With the economy in this horrid shape, plenty of places will be hacking school supply prices as the summer goes on. Stay tuned – as we see great deals we’ll try to let you know about them.

Post from: Thrifty Mommy

Caliber or CVS pharmacy 1 subject notebook $.99,
get back $.99 ECB
Free after ECBs (limit 2)

Paper Mate Grip pens 8 ct $.99
get back $.99 ECB
Free after ECBs (limit 3)

Caliber or It’s Academic 5″ pointed or blunt scissors $2.99
get back $2.99 ECB
Free after ECBs (limit 2)

Caliber or CVS pharmacy school glue 5 oz $.99
get back $.99 ECB
Free after ECBs (limit 2)

Caliber or CVS pharmacy 12″ plastic or wood ruler $.99
get back $.99 ECB
Free after ECBs (limit 2)

A few other good school supply sales:

2 pocket portfolio folders – $.05

Caliber or CVS pharmacy 3-subject 120 sheets or 5-subject 180 sheets notebook $3.99
get back $3 ECB
$.99 after ECBs

My CVS was out of a lot of these items, but said they would get a truck in tomorrow. You may want to call first to see if the items are in stock.

This sale ends Tuesday, July 13.

Remember, even if you don’t need the school supplies, you can still use them to help someone in need. You can donate these to a family in financial need or use them to fill up your shoeboxes for Samaritan’s Purse.

Post from: Thrifty Mommy

Some of the parents probably thought I was a snot, but honestly there really is a difference in the name brands.  Trust me, after teaching for several years I had seen student after student become totally frustrated and upset because their school supplies didn’t work well.  I’ve seen glue sticks come out of the tube in a clumpy mess, crayons that worked as well as candle wax, and rubbery pencils that you had to sharpen half way down to get them to work.  It is insanely annoying!!!!

The point of all this is to say that it is worth the effort to purchase the better brands of school supplies.  They last longer and your child won’t become as frustrated.  Thankfully, now is the time to stock up on quality supplies.  Today I got the 2-pack of Elmer’s glue sticks at Target for 20 cents.

Have you noticed a difference in the brands?  Which ones are your favorites?

free clip art image

Post from: Thrifty Mommy

Most schools are back in session.  If you’re like me, then you’re trying to spend as little as possible to supply your child with their necessities.  Here are some tips to get your shopping done without needing to rack up credit card debt. 

1.  Take advantage of back to school prices on school supplies.  Get composition notebooks at 10 cents each, 2 glue sticks for 15 cents, a pack of pencils for 10 cents, folders for 10 cents.  My daughter’s pre-k class doesn’t have a mandatory supply list, but the teacher had some suggestions.  I bought 8 packs of glue sticks, 2 packs of pencils, and 2 packs of crayons for less than $3.  The savings are incredible.

2.  Buy enough school supplies for the entire year.  This is a big money saver that I learned from my mom.  At the beginning of the year, she would buy 20 packs of paper, many packs of pencils, etc.  We had a drawer in the house where we kept all the school supplies and when we needed more supplies, we would just go to that drawer to get it.  Why would you pay $1+ for paper later in the year, when you can get it for .25 now?  Spend the extra $25 and stock up now to save for later.

3.  Take advantage of tax-free weekend.  Many states now offer tax-free weekend good towards purchasing clothing, school supplies, and electronics.  Most stores have great sales going on during those weekends too.  You can really save a lot of money.

4.  Shop ahead of time.  Right now I am taking advantage of summer clearance sales and purchasing my children’s clothes for next summer.  I try to stay a year ahead and get things when the prices are the best.  I rarely pay more than $2-3 for their shirts or shorts.  Two weeks ago, I was at Belk and got Alligator swimsuits that were 75% off, then an additional 30% off with the red-dot clearance.  I paid $8 for two swimsuits (Dora and Hello Kitty).

5.  Inventory your child’s clothing.  During the summer children mostly wear shorts.  It seems once fall comes around parents start to panic because all their child’s pants are too short.  If necessary, have your child try on their clothes so that you can assess their clothing needs.  Make a list of what they have and what they need.  Then when you’re out shopping at the back to school sales, you’ll know what you’re looking for.

6.  Pack your child’s lunch.  Have you seen how much school lunch costs?  Not only are school lunches costly, but many times they are high in fat.  Get creative and pack a variety of foods for your child.  Today’s Parent has ideas for 25 sandwiches.  Thanks to Inside Motherhood for the link.

7.  Don’t snub open box or used electronics.  Just about every electronic device or appliance that we own was purchased 1) open box, 2) on ebay, or 3) on display/scratch and dent.  My stove has a dent on the right side, but it’s up against the cabinets, so it doesn’t matter and the dent saved us big.  Take advantage of open box computers, calculators, and other equipment that your child will need for school.  Many stores offer the same warranty on open box merchandise as they do new items.

8.  Limit the number of extra-curricular activities your child can participate in.  It seems like I heard this tip from Dennis & Barbara Rainey a few years ago and I think it’s a really good tip.  Some parents allow their child to participate in only one sport each year.  It avoids the cost of gas, uniforms, registration fees, and more importantly puts less stress on a family.  Some moms seem to never get a break because they are always running around carrying their child (and their child’s friends) to ball practice, rehearsals, game, concerts, etc.  Setting limits also causes your child to learn to prioritize. 

9.  Prepare the night before.  It seems in the mornings, something is going to go wrong.  To avoid being stressed, try to prepare as much as possible for the next day.  Have the kids pick out their clothes and shoes, pack the lunches, file papers, get homework together, put bookbags by the door, etc.

10.  Make a family calendar.  Put all appointments, sports schedules, teacher workdays, etc. on one calendar.  You can even use different color inks for categories.

11.  Teach your kids to take care of their stuff.  When I was teaching middle school, I would find pens and pencils every day.  Before long, I had a huge collection that I would share with the students.  I’ve found lunch boxes, coats, and other valuables that some students would not claim.  I still use a Nike jacket that I found years ago.

12.  For musical instruments check Sam’s Club, see if you can borrow one from the school, or rent one from a local music company.  You may not want to buy an instrument just yet anyway, because you may not know if your child is going to like that instrument and stick with it.  Also try Shar Music.  They seem to have some good deals on instruments. 

13.  If you have older children that need to purchase books, look for used ones.  Check online at Amazon or another site that sells used books.  See if there is a bulletin board at school used for posting used books and equipment.  Better yet, borrow the book, calculator, or other needed item from someone that already took the class.

14.  Put an ad on Freecycle for the things you need.  This really works.  My friend just had a baby and she got almost everything she needed from Freecycle. 

Back to School Tips from some of my favorite bloggers:
12 Tips for Backpack Safety
Top 5 Ways to Make This an Organized School Year
5 Back to School Sanity Savers
Healthy Lunch Box and Snack Ideas
Cover That Text Book
Where to Find Cheap School Supplies
5 Ways to Get Your Kids to Talk About School
Back to School Blog Carnival

Other Back to School articles:
Back to School Lunch Tips
Fun School Lunch Ideas

Do you have any back to school tips for saving money?  Please share them.

Post from: Thrifty Mommy