5 New Tips for Back to School Shopping

I'm Nicole Lappin, the only financial expert you don't need a dictionary to understand.

It's time for some money rehab.

If you're a parent or really even just someone who has been in a store lately, you've probably seen the signs.

Literally, it is back to school season and that means sales, kind of.

As an aside, this is my first back to school season as a mom.

And even though my daughter is only eight months old right now and is a pretty long ways away from school, although she is a genius, so who knows?

I cannot wait to buy her a little baby backpack.

So freaking cute.

Anyways, when the time comes, I will be using the best hacks for back-to-school savings.

Definitely not the old tired tips like use coupons or buy used or look for BOGO deals.

You do not come to Money Rehab for crusty old tips.

You come to Money Rehab for fresh advice that you can't find anywhere else.

So today I'm going to share five unique, non-obvious back-to-school shopping tips that will actually help you save money.

No fluff, no recycled advice, just real strategies that you have not heard a thousand times before.

So, number one, shop Costco without a membership and poach their back-to-school deals.

You do not have to be a member to buy some of the best back-to-school staples at warehouse prices.

And no, Costco is not a sponsor here, they just do have some of the best wholesale type pricing in the game.

So, here's how to shop there without the membership.

Ask a friend with a membership to load a Costco shop card.

That's Costco's gift card.

You can use it in-store without a membership.

And while you're there, raid the discounted third-party gift cards.

So think Nike, Old Navy, restaurants for team dinners, often sold at 10 to 25% below face value.

I will say, this is a pretty secret hack.

And because of that, not every Costco employee knows that non-members can use shop cards.

But it does say under the member privileges on the Costco site site that non-members can use shop cards.

So if someone gives you grief, just hit them with the fine print.

And be prepared that they will probably try to get you to sign up for a membership while you're there, but it is totally, totally optional.

If there's no Costco nearby you, or if you're nervous about pulling off a non-member move at Costco, check out Sam's Club.

Similar gift card discount situation or shop deals via Instacart factor in the fees, of course, but for big ticket buys, it can still pencil out.

This works because you're accessing wholesale pricing and pre-discounted gift cards in one run.

Just keep in mind that policies can vary and confirm limits on shop card use at your local warehouse.

Number two, use price protection like a pro.

If you want to buy the back-to-school goods, but are worried about getting the timing exactly right, this tip's for you.

Back-to-school shopping can be kind of like buying a stock.

You don't know when the lowest, low price is going to hit.

Well, don't worry about that because some credit cards will automatically refund you the difference if something you bought goes on sale.

It's called price protection and it's not necessarily that rare.

It's just hidden in your card's fine print.

Price protection is a benefit where your card refunds the difference between what you paid and a lower advertised price for the identical item within a set window, often 30, 60, 120 days.

It's not a chargeback or a retailer price match.

It's a perk run by a benefit administrator, not customer service, and is separate from return policies.

Here's how to check if you have it.

First, search your card name plus guide to benefits.

That PDF is the Bible.

Then look for terms like price protection, price guarantee, price rewind, or sometimes it's buried under purchase security or assurance.

Note the window, days after purchase, caps like 250 to 500 bucks per item and 1,000 to 2,500 bucks per year, what counts as an eligible retailer and the claims administrator, often card benefit services or something similar.

Before you count on being able to use this move, make sure you're buying from an eligible retailer.

So not an auction site.

Marketplace third-party listings are often excluded.

You'll also have to pay the full amount on the card that has the purchase protection.

Paying partially with gift cards or points can reduce or avoid the coverage.

Now, your card might have price protection, but not offer an automatic refund.

If that's the case, you're going to need to file a claim.

So to do that, go to the benefits portal or call the claims administrator, not the bank's general line.

Submit your original receipt, your card statement or pending transaction screenshot if they allow it, the ad or the URL showing the lower price, and any other form they require.

And then send yourself a calendar reminder for a follow-up in 10 business days and again before the window closes.

Number three, let Uncle Sam treat you for a change.

Most states have a sales tax holiday right before school starts.

This year, 18 states offer discounted and tax-free back-to-school shopping holidays.

These are days where you'll potentially not have to pay sales tax on purchases of school supplies.

In some cases, that is a 6% discount, so you will not want to miss this.

Do a quick Google search to see if your state is participating and then mark your calendar.

But not all items are included and not all states are obvious about it.

It differs pretty dramatically state by state, so look up your state's exact dates and eligible items.

For example, Florida has two tax-free periods, one in August and one in early September.

Connecticut's doesn't include school supplies, just clothing.

Knowing the calendar and what you can save on can save you big.

Number four, forget buy now, pay later.

Use reserve now, pay later.

Here's one that people don't talk a lot about, but I use all the time.

A lot of retailers allow you to reserve your cart online with an account, and then they'll often send you a discount code or price drop email within a few days.

This is a little psychological nudge that retailers use to get you to finally finish your purchase and you can use it to your advantage.

So instead of checking out immediately, log in, build your cart and walk away.

So often retailers will email you back within 72 hours, something like, hey, we missed you, finish up, here's 15%.

If you do so, boom, 15%.

Number five, set a Google alert for your must-haves.

If your kid needs a graphing calculator or if there's a specific backpack they are begging for, set a Google alert with the product name plus sale.

This is sort of like the equivalent of setting a price alert for a trip on Google flights, but for specific things on your shopping list.

This saves you from doom scrolling daily and gets deals delivered to your inbox so you're not paying full price in panic the night before school starts.

NetNet back to school shopping is a business and you are the target market.

And the industry is huge.

Families with school-aged kids are expected to spend an average of $890 this year, according to the National Retail Federation.

That's up from $864 last year, and tariffs are not helping.

But that's what I'm here for.

I'm here to help.

I actually got so excited about this episode that I put together eight tips and ultimately decided to just keep five in the episode so that I didn't overwhelm you.

But if you want the three bonus tips, I'm putting them in today's edition of my newsletter, The Money Minute, which you can get by subscribing to the link in my show notes before 5 p.m.

Eastern time.

But that said, here is one more tip when you can take straight to the bank.

On the price protection perk I was talking about, there's some fine print that trips people up sometimes.

If the item you bought isn't identical to the one that's on sale, you probably won't get that sweet refund.

So, if it's a different color or a different storage size, or if it's sold as a bundle, it's probably denial.

Also, some policies compare the item price only, so pre-tax, pre-shipping.

Others allow shipping in the comparison.

So, just keep your eye out for that fine print before you hit buy on anything on your back-to-school shopping list.

Money Rehab is a production of Money News Network.

I'm your host, Nicole Lappin.

Money Rehab's executive producer is Morgan Lavoie.

Our researcher is Emily Holmes.

Do you need some money rehab?

And let's be honest, we all do.

So email us your money questions, moneyrehab at moneynewsnetwork.com, to potentially have your questions answered on the show or even have a one-on-one intervention with me.

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And lastly, thank you.

No, seriously, thank you.

Thank you for listening and for investing in yourself, which is the most important investment you can make.