School uniforms and frugal finds.

Uniforms can be quite expensive. This being our first year (and experience) with buying uniforms, I've been hunting high and low for the best bargain. Although I've found inexpensive pieces here and there (Goodwill, garage sales, Once Upon a Child), we do not have an established supply of uniform pieces, you know, tops, bottoms, jumpers, etc.

So I had this goal in mind that I would buy an entire summer/fall uniform wardrobe for less than $100, but I think that might've been too lofty; now my goal is to establish a full wardrobe (on sale and with coupons, of course) and a backpack for less than $150.

I'm doing good on my new goal.

I began Harper's wardrobe with three khaki jorts that I picked up from a local 'online' garage sale group. A cute navy jumper dress from Goodwill, and a pair of 'classic' khakis from Once Upon a Child. Total: $9.25

Today, I saw that Children's Place had specials running on their uniforms, plus an extra 30% off $60 or more (off everything in the store) with this code: savemore3, so I picked up: five ruffle uniform polo shirts, two skinny uniform pants, two crew neck cardigan sweaters, two uniform shorts, and two pairs of modesty shorts.

My total today was $86.73 plus tax. Shipping was free, whee! Harper still needs a windbreaker/rain coat and a khaki jumper dress. I saw that these were on sale at Walmart; downside is that I have to pay $5 in shipping, yuck! Why won't they ship to store? Just not sure. Definitely going to get the coat because it is marked down quite a bit, but I think I'll wait on the jumper. I'm sure I can buy one off someone or find one at Goodwill for cheaper than this price.

If you are trying to buy school uniforms on the cheap. I know that Walmart has a sale on their gear (polos are $21 per 4 pack, shorts are $7) as does Old Navy (polos are $5/each, pants are $10). The prices are comparable to the discounted prices I received today with Children's Place. To add to it, I love that Children's Place will accept/exchange my returns if they don't fit; their pants and shorts have adjustable belt loops, which is important to moms of skinny minis. It helps that I had some rewards points to use, and the quality of their clothing is great, IMO.

Thanks for reading today, and here is a lovely pic of the fam from a date with the local farmers market a few weekends ago (before I dyed my hair red). I used a fun filter on these photos, not sure now much I like it though. Hm.

School supplies and frugal finds.

I'm all about saving a buck, whether its on groceries, clothing, school supplies, you name it.

Despite all that, I've been really lazy about hunting down a deal and jumping on it. I mean to say that I haven't couponed in a long time (like 6 months), which is horrible, and I have no one to blame but myself. This is my confession (makes you think of that song, right?). I do continue to price match from time to time, but I found that I was spending too much time hunting down, printing and organizing coupons, so I just took a break, a long one.
 
Because Harper starts school in a month, I figured it was time to start stocking up on school supplies and uniforms the frugal way.  I found her list on the school website as well as a uniform list. Then I searched for upcoming discounts with the help of Moms By Heart. 

Tonight I found some pretty cheap prices (good through Saturday, July 26) at Office Depot and Staples. Some of the prices were not the cheapest (the notebooks at Walmart were $0.25, hindsight is 20/20), but they seemed good at the time, so I purchased them anyway. Also, did you know that Staples offers a 100% Price Match Guarantee. Yeah, I didn't realize till I mentioned something was cheaper in the Office Depot ad, and they gave it to me for that price, crazytown.

Additionally, our teachers are looking for extra Kleenex, a binder and a writing tablet.

Not all everything she needs, but almost everything for less than $10.00.

OFFICE DEPOT
White Glue, Bottle
1 @ $0.25
One Subject, Notebook
2 @ $0.40

Total: $1.05 + tax

STAPLES
Pencils, 12CT
1 @ $0.68
Pencil Box
1 @ $1.00
2-Pocket Folder
1 @ $0.15
Composition Notebook
2 @ $0.50
Glue Sticks, 4PK
1 @ $1.25
Crayola Crayons, 24CT
2 @ $0.50 -- FREE because the guy didn't ring these up apparently, oops!
Crayola Colored Construction Paper, 96CT
2 @ $2.00

Total: $8.08 + tax

WALMART
Roseart Markers, 10CT
1 @ $0.77

Total: $0.77 + tax

**Side note, I don't know what happened at Staples with the crayons. I put everything on the counter, and I even saw him ring them up. He had to update my receipt to do the price match guarantee on the construction paper ($2 @ Office Depot), so I'm not sure how the crayons were overlooked. I feel kind of bad about it, but I did not even catch the mistake till I looked at my receipt when I got home. Eek!! At least it was only $1, I guess.**

Well all in all, I spent about $9.90 + tax on Harper's school supplies. Now all I have left to buy is Kleenex, manila paper, a 1/2 inch binder with pockets, a folder with brads, scissors, water color paints, ziploc bags, writing tablet, and baby wipes.

My goal is to spend $20 or less on Harper's school supplies.

My next goal is to buy Harper school uniforms and a backpack for less than $100. Uniforms and backpacks can be expensive, but I am confident that I can get a good deal by shopping at Walmart and by using coupons, we'll see. Thus far I've picked up a jumper dress (Goodwill), three skorts (garage sale), and a pair of khaki pants (Once Upon a Child) all for less than $8.00, so I am on a roll.

I forgot to mention that the Once Upon a Child in our area was having a 70% off clearance sale, so I bought two shirts, a sweater, and shorts for Sawyer (fall/winter apparel) and a shirt, a dress and khakis (summer/fall/winter apparel) for only $10.79. I just love a steal, don't you?

Do you have an action plan when it comes to stocking up on school supplies and clothing for the upcoming year? How do you save a buck on these items? Do you frequent garage sales, Goodwill and other discount outlets for steals? I'm always looking for new ways to save money. I'd love to hear your strategies for saving.