How to save on back-to-school shopping

It happens every year: As children spend their last carefree moments before the end of summer vacation, parents scurry from store to store in the time-honored ritual of back-to-school shopping.

The average family spends more than $600 a year on back-to-school shopping. That's a sizable expense. You could take a weekend vacation with that money. How do all those notebooks and new sneakers add up to so much?

For one thing, parents are being asked to provide for ever-expanding lists of supplies. As school budgets are being crunched, teachers are turning to parents to help stock their classrooms. Your child's school shopping list is probably longer than yours was.

But even without being asked to pitch in for classroom needs, kids need a lot of stuff. School is a big undertaking. Most kids need at least a backpack, lunchbox, athletic shoes, school shoes, notebooks, pencils, and erasers. And that's before you even get to the clothes aisle.

Taking a frugal approach to back-to-school shopping requires several different strategies. Here are some useful tricks to help you make the most of your back-to-school dollars:

• Shop around: Donna at GetRichSlowly.org makes a great point about shopping around: different retailers will have the best prices on different items. Don't do all your shopping in one place, or you'll get a great deal on one or two items and then pay too much for the rest of your gear.
• Shop early: You may have already started back-to-school shopping, which is great. Watching sales and discounts all summer can help you shave a lot of money off your total spending.
• Shop online: Most parents report that they still do the bulk of their back-to-school shopping in brick-and-mortar stores. Take to the Internet for some great deals on basics.
• Shop later: Shopping early is great, but so is waiting until the rush is over. Remember that you don't need an entire year's worth of school supplies and clothes on the first day of school. Right after school starts, stores will have clearance sales on the stuff they didn't manage to move before Labor Day. That's the time to step in and stock up.
• Shop with a list: It's easy to get swayed by all the fancy displays, and wind up buying more than you need. Make a list before you leave the house and stick to it. If you or your kid sees something you really want and it's not on the list, write it down. You can sleep on it and go back for it later if you actually need it.

Every family is going to wind up spending some money on back-to-school shopping. Your goal is to spend wisely. Buy quality goods that your kid will use and enjoy, and get them at a bargain by shopping in the right places at the right times.

Planning ahead can save you more than money. It'll save you time, because you'll know what you want and where to get it before you leave the house. It'll save you hassles and fights now, because you and your kids can agree on your shopping lists together before you go. And it will save you trouble later, because your children will have the things they actually need for the school year.

To get your kids involved in the savings game, you can give them a prize for saving the most money on their back-to-school wish lists. Set a budget. Keep all your receipts. Put any money that's left over in your budget towards a goal the kids want: possibly a family vacation or a new game system.

Whatever approach you take, be sure to involve your children. As they gear up for the start of the school year, it's a great time to start things off with a personal finance lesson. Do this every year and they'll quickly become savvy shoppers in their own right.

What savings strategies do you use for back-to-school shopping?

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