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If you are joining me here on Addicted to Saving after watching this morning’s ABC Action News Back to School Savings segment with Deiah Riley, welcome!  My goal for you is that you will have fun as you are empowered saving more and more money.

During today’s news segment, we talked about saving money on Back to School Shopping.  If you live in Florida, you probably know that today (Friday, 8/12) through Sunday, August 14th is the Sales Tax Holiday.  If you have Back to School items you need to purchase for your child, this weekend is a great time to score TAX FREE items!   The sales tax exemption applies to each eligible item of clothing selling for $75 or less and to each eligible school supply item selling for $15 or less. The exemption will still apply no matter how many items are sold on the same invoice to a customer.  Go HERE for more info on the Sales Tax Holiday.  **Also – remember that you are not saving a ton of money with this tax exemption – so make sure you focus on the available sales and coupons to really maximize your spending.

How to Save Money While Shopping In-Stores

• To see my Back to School Deals and Highlights, go HERE.  This is an awesome reference tool for you to use as you go through your child’s supply list.  I give you the deals and coupons to use.  And, you can print out your shopping list!
• Don’t forget about price matching!  Many office supply stores, Walmart and Target will price match.  Make sure that you contact your local store before heading out to find out what stores they price match.  And then, bring their corresponding sales flyers in.  This is an excellent way to shop multiple store deals at just one place!
• Utilize coupons.  Addicted to Saving has a Coupon Database.  Plug in any item you are looking to purchase and the database will tell you if there is a coupon available and where to find it.  Go HERE to check out the database.
• If you are going back-to-school clothing shopping, make sure that you check the store’s website, Facebook page, Twitter page, etc for clothing coupons.  Often stores will post coupons on their social media sites. 
• When you are clothing shopping, shop the sales and clearance racks.  Summer clothing are on clearance right now.  Since we live in Florida, we still have a few more months to wear summer clothing.  There are great transition pieces like light weight pants, capri pants, dresses, skirts, polo shirts, shorts, etc that will be marked down on clearance since they are considered summer clothing.  Fall clothing will begin going on sale mid fall so start buying your fall clothing then.
• Consider purchasing second-hand clothing for your child.  There are great consignment stores like Plato’s Closet and more.  You can purchase trendy, gently used clothing for your child at a fraction of the price.  Go HERE to see a list of consignment stores in the Tampa Bay area.

How to Save Money While Shopping Online

• If you are open to purchasing second-hand clothing, check out the website Thredup.com.  Go HERE.  When you join Thredup (it’s FREE), you will pay $5.00 plus shipping for a box of gently used clothing in your child’s size.   
• Shop the sales.  Compare sales on all of the online stores you are interested in before placing your order.
• Utilize Ebates.com and ShopatHome.com. (Sign up is FREE) Ebates and ShopatHome are online rebate websites that will reward you cash back when you place an order through one of the hundreds of websites they are affiliated with. They work with major websites like Old Navy, JCPenney, etc.  So – if you are placing an online order, instead of going directly to the store’s website, go to Ebates to see what percentage cash back they are paying and then go to Shop at Home. Determine which website will pay you more and then use that website.  To sign up for an Ebates account, go HERE.  To sign up for a Shop at Home account, go HERE.

After you finish your back to school shopping, read my Couponing for Beginners post to learn the basics of couponing and get started on the fun road of saving money at the grocery and drugstore!  Every week I provide the weekly ad and coupon matchups for the stores below.  I do the hard work for you.  All you need to do is gather your coupons and head out to shop!

• Publix
• Albertsons
• Winn Dixie
• Sweetbay Supermarket
• Target
• Walmart
• CVS
• Walgreens

Feel free to leave a comment with any questions you might have as you begin to navigate through Addicted to Saving!