TAMPA, Fla. — Florida’s Back-to-School Sales Tax Holiday starts Monday. It goes from July 29 to Aug. 11.
It’s designed to help families save money on things students need for the new school year.
“This a great time to do your back-to-school shopping because you can save on everything from computers to clothes to school supplies tax-free. Why not?” said Trae Bodge, Smart Shopping Expert at TrueTrae.com.
Items that are tax-exempt include:
- School supplies under $50 per item
- Learning aids $30 or less
- Clothes and shoes selling for $100 or less per item
- Personal computers and accessories $1,500 and under per item
As you’re getting ready for the upcoming school year, there are a few things you can do before you start shopping that can help save some cash.
“The number one thing you can do before you spend any money is see what you already have at home,” said Sara Rathner, Personal Finance Expert for NerdWallet.
“Go through your backpacks. See if there are supplies that can be reused. Maybe the backpack just needs a good, thorough wash. Have them try on their clothes,” said Bodge.
After you take inventory of the things you already have, create a budget and make a list of what you need.
“Whenever you’re buying a lot of things in a really short period of time, you need to be prepared to spend a ton of money, but that’s also an opportunity to shave down costs whenever you can,” said Rathner.
Retailers tend to start dropping prices around this time of year as well.
“I love your big box stores, like your Target and Walmart. You’re going to find lots of things there. I also love wholesale clubs, especially if you have multiple children. Get your school supplies in bulk. Then one that may surprise you is your off-price stores, your dollar stores,” said Bodge.
“For example, Dollar General has a very broad selection of school supplies. They have many items that are only $1 for brands like Crayola or Elmer’s, and they also offer 30% off to teachers,” she added.
Don’t forget to look for coupons before you shop for extra deals.
“One of my favorites for that is CouponCabin. They have deals for thousands of stores so that’s another step as well,” said Bodge.
“You can even stack those. That's savings on top of using a cash-back credit card using coupons. So those are ways you can chip away at the overall cost of the things that you buy,” said Rathner.
Bodge recommends even getting your child a gift card so they can do some of their own shopping if they’re old enough.
“Set them loose in the mall and what you will find is that they will spend their money much more carefully than they will spend your money. They will make excellent choices and they will get exactly what they want and they will not go over budget,” said Bodge.
Another way to save some money is by buying secondhand.
“If you go to your local Goodwill or Salvation Army you can often find gently used or even new with tags items that your kids can wear that will be a fraction of the cost. Then you can go to the stores and buy new things,” said Bodge.