MINNEAPOLIS — Well, it feels super early, but back-to-school shopping season is just around the corner.
Target and Amazon are already advertising deals for their big sales next week, and apparently, some parents have already started shopping.
A June survey from the National Retail Federation showed 25% of parents have already started shopping for school supplies. The survey also showed that 80% of parents are expecting higher prices this year, but retail experts say you can still save if you spend a little extra time shopping around.
Julie Ramhold from DealNews.com says prices overall will be higher this year thanks to inflation, however, many retailers are still offering up great deals to lure people in.
"These retailers know that parents are going to be coming in with a full list. By offering some of the basics for really low prices, I'm sure they are pretty successful at bringing in some of these consumers because, a lot of times, they just really want to get it done,” Ramhold said.
If you're willing to put in a little extra work Ramhold says shoppers can find different deals at different stores and save a lot of money.
"It can definitely pay to do some comparative shopping and potentially divide up your list into stores,” Ramhold said.
And consider other stores you might not think of, like grocery and office supply, that often sell school supplies to bring people in.
Ramhold said parents should also expect to see more cleaning products on their school supply list, with all the viruses that were going around last school year.
"Keeping things clean and orderly and disinfected so that maybe they can prevent something like a stomach bug taking out the entire class all at once,” Ramhold said.
Waiting can also save you money.
Even though deals have already started, Ramhold said the best deals may not come until later this month. And for some items, like lunchboxes and backpacks, if you can use the old ones for the first few weeks of school, you can often find them on clearance around Labor Day.
And if you want to save a little extra, save those receipts.
The Minnesota Department of Revenue said parents have two options to save money on taxes: the K-12 Education Credit and the K-12 Education Subtraction.
With the credit, tax officials said the average family could save around $261, but there are income limits.
The average subtraction is about $1,200 and it doesn’t have any income limits.
The Minnesota Department of Revenue says parents/guardians can claim things like paper, pens, notebooks, musical instruments, computers, software, and even tutoring.
So, save those receipts.
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