I just went to Target and bought ALL of my kids school supplies in one trip. Now this may not sound out of the ordinary to you, but to someone who loves coupons and sales it could be considered insanity. I mean...I bought things FULL PRICE that weren't even on sale (okay, I bought SOME things on sale and I did use a few coupons...but I would have bought the stuff anyway even if it wasn't on sale). I probably paid 25% more than I would have if I would have watched the sales, clipped coupons, and drove to 2-3 different stores each week until school starts getting the best deals. But I thought about it and decided that at this point in time my time is more valuable than that extra $15-20 I spent and I don't regret it one bit!
See...I am super blessed to have a job where I am off with the kids during the summer, but I have to go back to work on August 1st. I wasn't about to spend my last few weeks with the kids driving all over town to pick up $.20 crayons when the $.40 crayons will do just fine. Plus, let's not forget the cost of gas...I'm pretty sure I saved at least a few bucks in gas money by shopping at just one store. And let me tell you that the weight lifted off of my shoulders having completed two school supply lists over a month before school starts is awesome.
Everyone has to make their own decisions on how they want to use coupons/sales/bargain shopping to work for them. In years past you had better believe that I would have been watching the ads like a hawk and only buying supplies when they were on sale. But that was when I had more time and less money to spend. Everyone has different priorities and while there are some things that I will go to great lengths to save money on, sometimes you just have to pay full price and call it good. And...for the record...I do think that I still did a pretty good job of scoring some things with coupons and at a lower price...I could never COMPLETELY abandon my savvy-shopping ways!
So how about everyone else? This year will you be bargain shopping for back-to-school or is convenience the key?