How to save money — and your sanity — when shopping for school supplies

With five kids, Annie Guillemette needs to be organized when it comes to back-to-school shopping, but that does not mean getting it all done in one day.

"It's too overwhelming," she said.

Guillemette lives in Saint-Basile-le-Grand with her husband, two sons in CEGEP, one son in high school, plus a son and a daughter in elementary school.

After years of stressful back-to-school shopping experiences, she's found a strategy that works for her family.

"Spread it out over a couple of days — budget-wise and sanity-wise, it makes it easier," she said.

Finding deals

Guillemette no longer worries about buying the exact brands that may be listed on the school supply list because she knows some of these supplies will go missing during the year anyway, and need to be replaced.

Finding deals is her priority.

Among the items on her kids' lists is glue sticks — more than a dozen in total.

As Guillemette comes across them at one store in St-Bruno, on Montreal's South Shore, she sees the price is $0.96 for the first six sticks, then jumps to $2.46 for additional glue sticks.

"So, I'm going to take six for now and come back for another run later on," she said.

Guillemette has to make another trip to the stores anyway because she only has supply lists for her two kids in elementary school so far.

Her sons in CEGEP and high school won't know exactly what they need until they start classes, she said.

Shopping with kids

Guillemette brings Noah, her 14-year-old son, shopping with her, despite the fact that he doesn't have his list yet.

She's buying him basic school supplies and letting him weigh in on some decisions — which he appreciates.

"It's very important because I want her to get specific things," Noah said.

Noah prefers spiral notebooks because they don't fall apart and mechanical pencils because he doesn't have to keep sharpening them, he says.

He also needs a new backpack and hopes his mother will buy him a particular brand.

"I just all of a sudden saw everybody having Jansport backpacks.… I want one of course," he said.​

Negotiations

Guillemette is hesitant at first, finding the bag expensive for its size, but in the end Noah gets the backpack, after he managed to convince his mother he'll take good care of it.

"I'm pretty proud of myself; I was able to negotiate properly," he said.

Guillemette says, with five kids to shop for, she doesn't like to give in simply to follow the trends. But she says Noah's at that "critical age" where brands matter.

This year she only had two backpacks on her shopping list and she's determined to find the other one at a lower price.

It's for her 7-year-old, Markus, who is far less concerned about brands.

"I'm crossing my fingers that [Noah's] school bag will last," she said.

Shopping alone

Jennifer Welch, a Montreal mother of three, says she makes her back-to-school shopping faster and easier by doing it without the kids.

This year, she received a list of supplies from the school and from individual teachers — one long list and 16 shorter lists.

Before heading to the store, she combined all those lists into one master list of supplies, "`grouping items as they would appear in the store."

"As I go through the store I don't have to backtrack," Welch said.

She also puts three hand-held baskets into her shopping cart to keep the supplies for her three children separate.

At checkout, she makes sure the supplies go into three separate bags and labels those bags immediately.

Order online?

Although it is possible to order school supplies online, it's not an approach these mothers find appealing.

"I like to be able to check out the items, looking at them for quality," Welch said.

Guillemette agrees.

She says online specials are not always the same as the deals you can get in-store.

She also said she likes to let her kids make decisions about colours and she feels better seeing everything.

End in sight

Her system works for her, but she said she's still eager for the back-to-school shopping trips to end.

"Today it was $235 and last week it was $179 … and there's clothes still left to buy. Gym shoes [and] school shoes," she says.

Then, she has to put labels on everything — a two-night job made easier with movies, music and a little wine, Guillemette said.

"I keep telling myself we're almost there — that first day of school is quickly approaching."