By Michelle Stoffel

GOBankingRates.com

Back-to-school season might be a joyful time for exhausted parents everywhere, but it’s not a cheap one.

In fact, a survey by the National Retail Federation revealed that families with kids in kindergarten through 12th grade planned to spend an average of $673 on clothes and school supplies last year. That amount was even higher _ about $899 _ for families with college students, according to the survey.

Here are eight tips to save on shopping while sending the kids off to school in style.

SHOP EVERY WEEK AND START EARLY

Prices change throughout the back-to-school shopping season, and you never know when a certain item might go on sale. For bigger-ticket items that you know you need, Heather Schisler, founder of Passion For Savings, recommended shopping early to grab the best deals. Pay attention to store circulars to make sure you don’t miss out on a discount. And know that for nonessential items, patience is OK.

“Don’t run to the store and buy everything at once,” she said. “You’ll end up paying more for each item.”

HOLD OFF ON GENERIC SUPPLIES

You can typically wait to buy basic items like pens and notebooks. “Buy the more specific back-to-school items early to make sure you get what you need _ for instance, a calculator or other supplies that need to be a particular brand or model,” said Jon Lal, founder and CEO of BeFrugal. “For more generic items like paper, pencils and folders, prices will typically drop at the last minute late in the season.”

ALWAYS SEARCH FOR COUPONS

Whether you’re standing in line at the checkout counter or filling your cart online, get in the habit of doing a quick search for coupons before purchasing. While you might not find a coupon to meet your needs, you could wind up cutting your bill for back-to-school supplies significantly, all because you typed a few words into a search engine.

PRICE MATCH CHEAP SCHOOL SUPPLY DEALS

Doorbuster back-to-school sales tend to limit the number of items a buyer can purchase. According to Schisler, whose site offers extensive back-to-school deals, you can price match a product at other office supply stores and even Walmart. Doing this increases the number of items you can get for those low prices.

INVENTORY YOUR HOUSE FIRST

Before taking your kids’ school supply lists to the store, search your own home for items that could fit the bill. You might already have a number of the requisite products, such as pens and empty folders, in your home office.

SELL BEFORE YOU BUY

While you’re taking inventory of your home goods, it’s wise to figure out what you can sell online through sites like eBay, Amazon or Craigslist. For example, you might have a filing cabinet or desk that no one’s using. By freeing up space _ and a few extra dollars in your budget _ you can actually splurge on more school purchases later in the summer.

BUY IN BULK WITH FRIENDS

Consider the items you can buy in bulk and opt to split these purchases among friends and neighbors. For example, goods like pens, pencils, paper, notebooks, brown paper bags, sandwich bags, tissues, markers and crayons all tend to be less expensive when purchased in large quantities.

Parents whose children are in the same classes or schools can pool their resources when shopping to save both time and money.

LEAVE THE KIDS AT HOME

If you’re thinking of bringing your kids along for back-to-school shopping, you might want to reconsider.

“Now, I realize some parents like to take their kids back-to-school shopping, as it makes them feel a part of the process, but I’m here to tell you that it’s typically not a good idea to haul them along, especially young kids,” said Kyle James, founder of Rather-Be-Shopping.com. “Kids are gonna throw off your money-saving mojo because they are going to want the expensive Hello Kitty backpack, and they are going to want the G.I. Joe pencils that cost five times what they should.”

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