WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — Rachel Bibey and her teen daughter, Savannah, scoured the store aisles looking for good deals on back to school supplies.
Rachel started by checking out deals online before going to a store.
"I'm trying to handle it mostly online to make my life easier," Rachel said.
Savannah knows her mother likes to save money when she can.
"When she does buy stuff, she will always try to get the best deal that she can. Some stuff is overpriced and she doesn't want to pay for that," Savannah said.
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Experts said the key to saving money is to have a plan before you drive to a store.
Dr. Jennifer Peluso, the dean of academic affairs at Keiser University, shares tips.
"Everything is so expensive. The best way to get started is to plan ahead," Peluso said. "Get the family involved. Find deals that will cut costs. Make a little family competition. Give them each the list and have them go off and check on the internet and see who can come up with the total cost that was the least. Maybe it's better to buy the notebooks at one store, but you buy your pens at another store."
Peluso said to make a list of where you will buy certain items to stay on budget.
"Number one, you will forget things that are on the list. We all forget things. And number two, you are going to be distracted by something else that you would like to have that your kids don't need. So go with a list and stick with the list," Peluso said.
Don't rule out thrift stores, too.
"You would be surprised how many calculators, notebooks, protractors, and other kinds of supplies that you might need that other families have donated," Peluso said.
Peluso said don't forget that you can re-use items from last year.
"If you have a pen drawer with 50,000 pens, don't buy more pens. Go through the pen drawer and see what you have. Highlighters or blue pens or black pens," Peluso said.
As far as the Bibey family, when they find a good deal, they try to buy extra.
"Expo markers for the teachers, grading pens for the teachers. There is just so much that they need. And a lot of the teachers — because I have a lot of teacher friends — spend a good portion of their money providing stuff for their classrooms. So any time that we can help them out is a good thing," Rachel said.