Bargain hunting in Dallas-Fort Worth: Good school supply deals in a bad economy

by Caitlyn Buckley

Photo by Caitlyn Buckley

And the madness begins: The back-to-school section in Target.

The first day of school is quickly approaching, and many people whose finances have been affected by the unstable economy in the past year may be wondering how to cut costs when shopping for school supplies. Most stores that normally offer supplies are advertising special low-cost deals, but it’s hard to tell which has the best offers.

Target has lots of good options for both basic school supplies and college needs. Their best deals are composition notebooks for 50 cents, 24 wooden #2 pencils for 69 cents and $10 for a large Case-it binder. There are also sales on Mead spirals and Bic mechanical pencils, but the prices aren’t great deals. While they have aisle after aisle in the store devoted to back-to-school mania, the prices aren’t much different than during other seasons.

“We went to Target because it’s close and because she wanted the brand-name items that would last longer,” said Linda Lee, a mom found shopping with her teenage daughter. “The prices were good, but not much better than in years past.”

Office Depot has much better value for bargain-hunters. 25 cents will buy a 4 pack of glue sticks, a book cover, or a 5 1/2 by 8 inch spiral. Cute Mead “fashion binders” have prices starting at $1.99, but they continue up to $5.99. After a customer spends $10 or more, Office Depot throws in a free acrylic ruler, 12-pack of eraser caps, and 8-pack of Scholastic crayons. They have name-brand backpacks starting at $5.99, but they do have some at the pricier end of the scale as well. They have about 20 items for under a dollar, as featured in their store circular from the Sunday paper. There are also good deals on graphing calculators.

Office Max has an online coupon for 20% off -- and they also sent a paper bag in the Sunday newspaper that offers 20% off anything you can fit in the bag. Their “Back to School for Pennies” promotion offers a 24 pack of crayons for one cent, 10 cents for a paper folder, and 15 cents for a pack of pens. These offers are while supplies last only, so it would be best to get them quickly.

Walgreens offers a 10-pack of pens or mechanical pencils for 49 cents. They also have a buy one (for $3.99) get one free deal on Corner Office or Oxford binders and a buy one ($6.73) get one half off deal for Mead Five Star spiral notebooks. They offer an extensive list of 49 cent school supplies, but they have a limit of three items at that price.

CVS offers low-cost backpacks that come free with a lunch bag with a CVS card. They have low prices on 1-inch binders and paper portfolios. They didn’t seem to jump on the back-to-school bandwagon as much as other stores, so that is about the extent of good deals to be found there.

Staples offers 20-50% off all backpacks as well as a long list of items under $1. They also offer many supplies buy one get one free, which is perfect for families with several children.

Wal-Mart is a great place to look for furnishings for those heading to college. They have an extensive promotion for low cost college necessities that is worth looking into. They have a good sale on back-to-school clothes, with more than 200 items that are less than $9 each. They also offer low-cost backpacks, but be wary.

“I wouldn’t buy him a backpack from Wal-Mart, because I did a few years ago, and it split open in the middle of the stairs at his school and all of his stuff fell down,” said Ana Rodriguez, who was stocking up on some of Wal-Mart’s other deals.

These deals are only valid until Sunday, August 23, so monitor what goes on sale after that. For many families today, digging in the deals will help you send your kids off to school right – without breaking the bank.