The Sales are Starting - Tips for Buying and Saving on Classroom Supplies

Oh yes, it's that time of summer we all look forward to/dread. Supplies are going on sale and we have to grab them while we can!

Did you know that most office supply stores post their weekly ads online before the sales go live?
Staples posts their ad at 10:00am on Thursday.
Office Depot/Max posts their weekly ad at Midnight on Thursday night/Friday morning
Totally Target posts early scans of the flyer.

Now, why do you care about viewing ads early? So you can map out your plan of course! Every summer these stores put out some really good sales (and a good deal of not so good ones), but quantities are limited and stores often only have a few of each item in stock. So, if you don't want to miss anything, you have to plan ahead and get to the store early on Sunday. This is my sister's first sale season as a teacher so we'll be at Office Depot/Max when they open this week and hopping over to Staples right after : )

One thing to keep in mind is that you CAN purchase over the customer limit as teacher. You generally need to speak to manager to do this, although some cashiers will ring you up and just get the manager to override for you. I've heard that managers do have a certain level of discretion regarding this policy and they can make you wait until later in the week so other customer's get a chance to get the deals first, but this hasn't happened to me yet.

UPDATE: Apparently my local Office Depot no longer does this. You can get around the limit by making multiple purchases at different stores or at different times. Not as easy but worth the effort for some deals. Staples used to let you buy more and get the deal back as a rebate but they have discontinued that option.


As I said, there are some really good deals out there, and some that aren't worth your time. So here are the supplies I look for and the price I aim for:

• Binders - 50¢ or less
• Copy Paper - free
• Colored Copy Paper - $1 or less
• Loose Leaf Paper - 25¢ or less
• Spiral Notebooks - 25¢ or less
• Composition Books - 50¢ or less 
• Pocket Folders - 15¢ or less
• 3 Prong Folders - 25¢ or less
• Pencils - 50¢ or less
• Pens - 25¢ or less
• Crayons - 25¢ or less (may pay higher for Crayola)
• Colored Pencils - $1 or less (you'll see some off brands for sale way cheaper, but they're not worth it)
• Markers - $1 or less per pack
• Highlighters - $1 or less for multipack
• Liquid Glue -  25¢ or less for small bottles, 50¢ or less for large bottles
• I no longer buy stick glue. Even though it's less messy, it doesn't last.
• Rulers - 25¢ or less
• Scissors - 50¢ or less

A note on Free Items:

You can get some awesome freebies during school supply sales. Before merging with Office Depot, Office Max definitely gave the best deals in this regard for MaxPerks members online so I'm curious to see what Office Depot does this year.

Free items are often free after getting store rewards back. In other words you pay out of pocket for the item, then get rewards on your loyalty card which equal what you paid for the item. These rewards often expire within 1-3 months, and sometimes may not post to your account until summer sales are over, so be cautious about picking up things you don't need. You may end up buying even more stuff you don't need just to spend your reward credit.



One last tip. Passion for Savings has a back-to-school deals page. It's worth following to catch some lesser known sales, especially if you have kids yourself as they post deals on clothes and backpacks, etc.


So, what summer sales do you look for? Tell me in the comments!