I am a big fan of saving money on school supplies. I was one of a team of writers who track school supply sales every year for a decade, and I’ve had my tips for saving money on school supplies published on big websites like Good Housekeeping and MSN Money, among many others, and I was interviewed on the topic for this article in the Washington Post. My local TV News stations used to interview me every year to help parents spend less during this oh-so-expensive time of year.
I tell you all that just so you’ll believe me when I say this: the best school supply deals are not always in the usual places you go to save money. When you know a few simple things – including where to look to find the best deals! – you’ll get everything you need and for potentially hundreds of dollars cheaper.
Stores with the best deals on school supplies
When I tracked the sales in my area for 10+ years, these are the stores that consistently had the best school supply sales:
- Walmart
- Staples
- Target
- Kroger
- Sam’s Club
- Office Max/Office Depot
- Menards
- Walgreens
Some stores have limits on how many of each discounted item you can buy. I’m a big fan of leaving some deals on the shelves for the next person, so the limits are fine by me. But I will buy the limit if it’s an item I’ll use up, like paper, pencils, or glue. Less so for things like rulers and pencil sharpeners.
The best school supply deals I see this season
Here we go! The school supply sales have already started! I’ll list the best deals I see on top-quality school supplies. If you’re wondering about a particular store and you don’t see it in my list, please let me know. This year, I’m in a new city with some different stores available to me. It will be a fun adventure to scout out new places.
Walmart 2026 School Supply Sales
Walmart is consistently the cheapest place to get your school supplies. If you only want to go to one store for school supply shopping, make it Walmart.
Download your child’s school supply list here at Walmart.com (affiliate link)
I’ve heard reports that Walmart is keeping their prices low this year and not passing on any increases due to tariffs. That said, if you want to get everything at the absolute bottom dollar, shop around. Here’s just one example I noticed: Kroger has Oxford 3″x5″ ruled index cards for .50 with digital coupon this week while Walmart has the generic ones for .72.
When you’re in the store, have the app open on your phone so you can use the barcode reader. Check various items to see markdowns that are specific to that store. They are not always revealed by shelf tags.
Staples 2026 School Supply Deals
- Get the app for the weekly freebie. ANY school supply purchase at Staples (including a .25 folder) will get you a completely free premium BTS item.
- Bulk Elmer’s glue sticks. If you need or just prefer name-brand glue sticks and want to buy in bulk, Staples has the12-pack at $5.99; that breaks down to .50 per stick, matching the Target and Walmart price.
- TruRed Copy Paper is $3.99 for a 500-sheet ream. This is a promotional price, and a smokin’ hot deal for printer paper.
- Limits apply to sale items; ask in your store
Target: Competitor to Walmart, so they definitely try to keep prices down on school supplies. I’ve also found great deals on back-to-school clothing basics, lunchboxes, locker decor, and electronics like calculators. I have to be careful though; I’m tempted to buy all the cute things, which is not the way to save money.
2026 Kroger School Supplies Prices August 5-11, 2026
If you use Kroger fuel points, this could be the best place to shop for most of your items; just be very deliberate so you don’t unwittingly overspend. You must have and be signed in to your Kroger Rewards account. With digital coupon deals, be sure you add the coupon before you shop, buy the exact eligible item, and don’t buy more than 5 in one trip. Most digital coupons have a limit of 5 per transaction; some allow multiple transactions but only up to 5 items in that ONE checkout.
virginia Sales Tax Holiday is August 7-9, 2026 this year.
- Sharpie highlighters 8-12 ct $5.99 (wyb5)
- Sharpie permanent markers, 10ct $6.99 (wyb5)
- Expo dry-erase markers, 6-8ct $5.99 (wyb5)
- Elmer’s disappearing purple glue sticks, 12ct $3.49 (wyb5)
- Crayola crayons, 24ct .49
- Crayola markers, 10ct .99
- Crayola washable markers, 10ct $2.99
- Crayola colored pencils, 12ct .99
- Ticonderoga #2 pencils, 18ct $4.79
- pencil pouch for 3-ring binder $3.19
- Fiskars school scissors $4.99
- Papermate Pink Pearl erasers, 3pk $1.29
- Summit’s Edge bungee backpack $9.99
- Fit & Fresh lunch bag $19.99
- Because Kroger usually has season-long pricing, items you saw in last week’s ad may still be valid.
Sam’s Club:
I really, really like the Members Mark brand paper towels, disinfecting wipes, garbage bags, t.p., etc. Most of them are are terrific value and the quality is the same or better than the name brands. During the year, buying these in bulk makes sense; during school supply season, you might get better deals by couponing and shopping the weekly sales. It’s just a matter of being in the right time and place to score an excellent deal.
Office Depot/Office Max
They were famous for their penny deals, but those have gone away. Instead, you might find coupons for dollars-off discounts when you spend a certain amount on school supplies. The Office Depot brand is generally really good quality, so don’t be afraid to buy store brand school supplies.
Office Depot/Office Max Educator Appreciation Days discounts may also apply.
Menards
Menards rebates translate into what is essentially store credit. If you’re a frequent shopper, that can add up; otherwise, it’s not useful for you. I would only purchase the school supply items that are a decent deal even without the rebate.
How to Shop Walgreens School Supply Sales
Walgreens school supply sales used to be really great as long as you shopped the weekly sale. But only buy the sale items, okay? Don’t buy regular price office supplies there unless you want to overpay.
Dollar General: They do accept coupons, so if you see a coupon for a back to school item, bring it with you. What you need to know: While dollar stores often have great bargains during the year, they do not usually have the best deals on school supplies during the Back to School season. Also, the quality of their generic crayons, invisible tape, glue sticks, markers, and a few other items might not be as good as store brands like Office Depot.
When is the best time to buy school supplies?
School supply sales start in mid-July, and sometimes even earlier. I assume that’s because retailers want to get a jump on this lucrative back-to-school shopping season. I also assume that the practice of offering loss leaders still works, because most of them still do it, and thank God they do because that equals cheap school supplies for us. One year, my daughter spent $8 and had everything on her list on the first day of school. (She was also interviewed by the local news. Makes a frugal mom’s heart proud!)
This is absolutely the best time to buy school supplies. Don’t let anyone convince you otherwise. (See the “myths” section below.)
Now, my youngest is all the way through college so I no longer have any kids in school who need backpacks, pencil cases, or dry erase markers. But I still need various office supplies, and this is the best time of year to buy them. Stock up while the prices are low.
A few myths about back-to-school shopping that cost people money
Before we get into the best places to buy cheap school supplies, I’d like to list what I believe are some myths about how to save money on back to school shopping. For some reason, these “tips” get repeated by well-meaning folks every year. I want to set the record straight because I just want you to be able to save the most money and give your kids the greatest memories. And if your kids are grown and gone like mine are, I want you to be able to be WELL stocked with office supplies for the year. You deserve it.
So, here are a few myths we should dispel to help you avoid costly mistakes in your back to school shopping:
- Myth: It will cost you hundreds and hundreds of dollars you don’t have to send your kids to school. Fact: It could cost you hundreds of dollars, but if you’re willing to penny-pinch with me here, you’ll ‘send your kids to school in style,’ as they say, but within budget. It is possible.
- Myth: The dollar stores have the best deals on school supplies. Fact: Dollar stores can be a great place to save money on many, many things, but if you buy your school supplies there in July and August, you’ll probably overpay. You’ll see what I mean when I give you example prices from the stores that have really good school supply deals.
- Myth: The school requires that your child have the name brand version of everything. Fact: On some items, name-brand school supplies are truly superior and that’s why teachers will specify the brand. On everything else, generic is grand.
- Myth: You should wait until the hype dies down and buy school supplies in September when they’re on clearance. Fact: If there really are clearance sales – and I’ve almost never found them – they will be limited in supply and selection. So, let’s say you get a notebook for .25 instead of .45 (not likely, but let’s say you did). You still need about 800 other things on the list and now none of them are on sale. I definitely, definitely will always take a glance at the clearance shelves, but for additional things. Bonuses. Extras. Not for the main shopping. You’ll overpay, for sure. And also, sometimes clearance prices really aren’t all that good.
- Myth: Don’t bring your kids to the store because they’ll want everything and you’ll spend more. Fact: Well, of course they’ll want everything. I want everything too. I definitely want the notebook with the cute kitties on the front cover. I absolutely want the Mead Trapper Keeper. Are you kidding me? But I don’t buy everything I want, because I want the money more than I want the Trapper Keeper. Give your kids an allowance for school supplies, teach them how to shop the sales, then tell them they get to keep any money left over after everything on the list is accounted for. We’ll see how much they care about glitter pencils. It’s likely they’ll take an old chewed up #2 out of the kitchen junk drawer rather than spend their
hard-earnedmoney on it.
Real advice for saving money on school supplies (and HOW to implement)
Okay, now that we’ve addressed those misbeliefs we can really get on to saving you big money. Or helping you spend very little money, whichever way you want to phrase it. I don’t know if you can still do it for $8 these days, but why not give it the ol’ college try? Here are tips for saving money on school supplies that absolutely do work. I’ve done them for years.
- Don’t buy everything at once.
- Don’t buy everything at one store.
- Don’t buy everything. Some of it you already have. Some of it can be donated from older siblings, relatives, friends, neighbors. I have also seen over the years a number of charitable organizations offer school supplies, so if you qualify don’t hesitate to take advantage of those programs. It’s better than going in debt or going without.
- Don’t buy everything on the shelves. Please save some for the next poor, broke, hopeful parent.
- Know your base price.
Don’t buy everything at one store
So, some stores have back-to-school sales every week for a couple of months. In the U.S., those months are July and August, maybe early September. Each week, they mark down a few items really low to get you to come in. So if you want to save the most money, here’s a shopping strategy that has worked for me.
Starting in mid-July, watch the sales in your area, and set aside Sunday mornings to go pick up just those items are that are marked down really low. Do this each week until just before school starts. Then, if anything is missing on your list the weekend before school starts, go to one of the stores with school supply sales and pick up the remaining items.
If that’s the only tip you take away from this article, you’ll save tons of money.
Here’s an example using Ticonderoga pencils, unsharpened, 24-pack. I checked the websites of several different stores and here are the prices I found for the same brand, same package size, and they were all unsharpened (because the sharpened ones could be a different price).
- On sale at Kroger in the weekly ad: $3.99
- Walmart: $4.47
- Walgreens: $7.79
- Staples: $5.29
- On sale at Office Depot: $4.99 (Reg. $9.89)
- Target: $4.49
These prices can and do change, so that’s not to say one store always has the best price on school supplies. This is an example of how widely the price can vary. I also checked Menards, which does have school supply sales this time of year, usually with Menards’ famous “rebate” system. They didn’t show the 24-pack on their website, but an 18-pack after rebate was $4. Clearly, this week the Kroger deal was better.
Next week, maybe Target or Office Depot will have them on sale. (Although Target, like Walmart, these days usually just has one low price throughout the whole back-to-school season until prices go back up to normal.)
You could do the same exercise with glue sticks, pens, crayons, markers and the like. I usually opt for generic and the cheapest possible for paper, like notebooks, filler paper, index cards, and copy paper. I almost never need a particular quality for those. For pens, I have my solid preference: good ol’ Bic cristal, followed by Paper Mate Ink Joy — but that’s just an opinion! What is your favorite pen?
If you don’t have time for that, if you have to buy everything at one time for some reason, then here are my store recommendations: Walmart and Kroger. Those two are consistently the cheapest on school supplies during the back to school sales (not always during the rest of the year). And if I had to pick only one, I think I might even pick Kroger, believe it or not. They’re really competitive this time of year, and if you use fuel points (I don’t any more), then that’s an added reason to shop there.
How much should you spend on school supplies?
Of course, it’s important to know the base price of an item so you can determine if a sale is really a sale. I have a school supply price list I go by and I have shared with you. It is important to know what the items usually cost so you know whether you’re really getting a deal.
Bonus tips to save additional dollars
Coupons can be a help if you can find ones that work with a sale, but beware of the trap of buying things just because it has a coupon. For example, a coupon for Clorox wipes may not beat the price of Members Mark (found at Sam’s Club), and the quality is equal, so there’s no reason to pay more. However, if you do have a coupon, you may try taking it to a Dollar General to see if you can save more, because Dollar General does accept coupons. (This is a possible exception to my rule about dollar stores not being cheaper during bts season.) I do not usually make the time or the effort, but if a coupon fell into my lap as I was passing by a DG, sure, I would stop.
Apps may also help you but in my opinion, these are just a bonus that should work on top of a smart shopping strategy. I would rarely go to a store just to get points or rewards on an app. But if you can scan your receipt after a great budget school supply haul, heck yes!
Even if the list specifies a name brand, it may not be necessary
Teachers are people, just like the rest of us, and sometimes they’ll say “Ziploc bags” when they mean baggies that have a seal at the top, or “Clorox wipes” when they mean disinfecting wipes, or “Kleenex” when they mean facial tissues. In every one of these examples, it is likely that the teacher or school does not mean you have to buy the name brand of that supply. If you can get in touch with someone at the school (difficult to do in the summer, I realize) you can ask. Otherwise, just buy the least expensive reasonable option.
It might be obvious but I should probably clarify one point. What you don’t want to swap out is sandwich baggies if they ask for gallon-size zipper bags or to get baby wipes if they ask for disinfecting wipes. Those aren’t the same items. But buying generic instead of name brand is not usually a problem, with some few exceptions.
School supplies where the name-brand is better quality
Some school supplies really do need to be name brand to get the expected quality out of the item. I am aware of these:
Expo dry erase markers – the generic kind often just don’t work, or dry up quickly. In this case, I’ll look for Expo coupons and try to match them up with a sale, which does happen from time to time – especially at Kroger or one of the Office Supply stores.
Crayola crayons – these are more pigmented and the colors are truer, which is important for kids learning their colors. I have also heard that the Crayola pencils, watercolors, and markers are better. This is fine, because almost all the stores have Crayola on sale during the back-to-school sales for the price that generic is the rest of the year.
Ticonderoga pencils – I guess you could get by with the other kind, but this brand is surprisingly superior. It sharpens better and the eraser actually works. A second in line in my experience is the Office Depot brand pencil, and I read online that Staples store brand pencils are of similar quality. Sometimes Amazon has good deals on Ticonderoga.
