back to school deals

Back to School Deals: Hot Deals Week of 8/13/11

August 15, 2011 by 1 Comment

Have you started shopping for school supplies yet? I’ve put together a roundup of the best available deals this week to help you stock up for less. Come back every week for a new list!

:: Pens & Pencils

Office Depot – Office Depot Brand Wood Pencils (12 pk.), $0.25
Office Depot -Paper Mate Expressions Black Ballpoint Pens (5 pk.), $1
Office Depot -Foray Rollerball Pens (12 pk.), $5
CVS – PaperMate Pens, 1.2 (10 ct.), 2/$1
Walmart – BIC Mechanical Pencils (10 ct.), $1.47

:: Crayons, Markers, Highlighters & Colored Pencils

Staples – Sharpie Fine, Black Permanent Markers (2 pk.), $0.25
Office Depot -All Sharpie Permanent Marker Singles, $1
Walgreens – Crayola Crayons with Sharpener (64 pk.), $2.99
Kroger – Crayola Crayons (24 ct.), $1
Meijer – Rose Art 24+3 Crayons, $0.20
Meijer – Crayola Washable Markers (8 ct.), $1.97
Walmart – Crayola Markers (10 ct.), $0.97
Walmart – Crayola Colored Pencils, $0.97*
Walmart – Sharpie Markers (3 pk.), $1.47
Walmart – Sharpie Skinny Highlighters (4 pk.), $1.47
Walmart – Sharpie Regular Highlighters (4 pk.), $1.47

:: Notebooks, Folders, Binders & Paper

Staples – Staples 1-Subject 10.5″x8″Notebooks (70 sheets), $0.01
Staples – Simply 1/2″ Poly Binder (assorted colors), $0.25
Staples – Staples 3.25″x4.5″ 80-Sheet Mini Composition Book (2 pk.), $0.25
Staples – Epson Heavyweight 8.5″x11″ Matte Photo Paper (50 sheets), $0.50
Staples – Hammermill 8.5″x11″ CopyPlus Copy Paper (500 sheets), $0.50
Staples – Staples 5.5″x4.25″ Fat Memo Book (200 sheets), $1
Staples – Roselle Professional 9″x12″ Drawing Pad (40 sheets), $2
Office Depot -Paper Pocket Folders, $0.01*
Office Depot -Marble Composition Books, $0.25
Walgreens – Splash Color Binder (1 in.), $0.99
Walmart – Wide Ruled Filler Paper (150 sheets), $0.75*
Walmart – 3 Ring Binder (1 inch), $0.92
Walmart – Filler Paper Lined (200 sheets), $0.97
Walmart – Construction Paper (100 sheets), $1.87
Walmart – Zippered Binder, $10

:: Glue & Tape

Walmart – Elmers School Glue, $0.40
Walmart – Elmers Glue Stick (2 pk.), $0.40
Walmart – Elmers Large Glue Sticks (3 pk.), $2.47

:: Rulers & Scissors

Office Depot -Office Depot Brand Plastic Ruler, $0.01
Office Depot -Schoolworks 5″ Kids Scissors (blunt & pointed), $0.25*

:: Other Deals

Staples – Staples Dual Dome Pencil Sharpener, $0.50
Staples – Staples Jumbo Assorted Colors Paper Clips (50/box), $0.50
Staples – Staples Translucent Pencil Box, $0.50
Staples – Really Useful 1.6L Box, $2
Staples – Webster’s Pocket Reference Books (dictionary), $2
Staples – Clorox Disinfectant Fresh Scent Wipes, $2
Staples – Kleenex Standard Facial Tissue (2 pk.), $3
Staples – Texas Instruments TI-30Xa 10-Digit Scientific Calculator, $9.99
Staples – Texas Instruments TI-30SXIIS 2-Line 10-Digit Scientific Calculator, $14.99
Staples – Texas Instruments TI-83 Plus Graphing Calculator, $89.99
Stapless – Kindle Wi-Fi with Special Offers and 6″ Display, $114
Staples – Kindle 3G, FREE 3G + Wi-Fi with Special Offers and 6″ Display, $139
Staples – NOOK Simple Touch Reader with 6″ Display, $139
Staples – NOOK Color with 7″ Display, $249
Office Depot -Office Depot Brand Bookcovers, $0.25
Office Depot -Office Depot Brand Compass, $0.25
Office Depot -Liquid Paper Smooth-Coverage Correction Fluid, $1
Office Depot -Prismacolor Magic Rub Vinyl Erasers (3 pk.), $1
Office Depot -Really Useful Boxes (0.2L & 0.3L), $1
Office Depot -PaperPro Nano Mini Stapler, $2
Office Depot -Poly Index Card Box, $2
Office Depot -Post-it 3″x3″ Super Sticky Die-Cut Notes, $2
Office Depot -Post-it Flags, $2
Office Depot -Really Useful Boxes (.55L), $2
Office Depot -Texas Instruments TI-30XIIS Scientific Calculator, $12.99
Office Depot -Fashion Notebooks, Water Bottles, Pencil Pouches and more, psa $0.99
Rite Aid – Side Load Envelopes, $0.29
Rite Aid – Pencil Case, $0.29
Walgreens – 7 Pocket Expandable File, $2.99
Walgreens – Texas Instruments Scientific Calculator (TI-30Xa), $9.99
Target -Texas Instruments TI-30X ISS Calculator, $9
Target – Embark Basic Lunch Kits, $7
Walmart – 3×5 Ruled Index Cards (100 ct.), $0.44
Walmart – Nap Mat, $10

*Items marked with an asterisk are priced at rock bottom prices that probably won’t be beat without a coupon!

Office Depot Back To School Deals 8/14/11

August 15, 2011 by 1 Comment

Office Depot Back To School Deals 7/10/11 The school supply deals are starting to ramp up, and Office Depot has some good ones this week as well:

:: $0.01 Deals

Paper Pocket Folders
Office Depot Brand Plastic Ruler
Office Depot Brand Multipurpose Paper

:: $0.25 Deals

Marble Composition Books
Office Depot Brand Bookcovers
Office Depot Brand Compass
Office Depot Brand Wood Pencils (12 pk.)
Scholastic Standard Crayons
Schoolworks 5″ Kids Scissors (blunt & pointed)

:: $1 Deals

2-Sided Pencil Box
All Sharpie Permanent Marker Singles
Avery Self-Adhesive Reinforcements
Fashion Color Rubberbands
Liquid Paper Smooth-Coverage Correction Fluid
Office Depot Brand Plastic Ruler
Paper Mate Expressions Black Ballpoint Pens (5 pk.)
Prismacolor Magic Rub Vinyl Erasers (3 pk.)
Really Useful Boxes (0.2L & 0.3L)

:: $2 Deals

3M Command Damage-Free Picture-Hanging Strips
Elmers XTREME Gluesticks (1.4 oz.)
Fiskars 7″ Student Scissors
Office Depot Brand Jumbo Paper Clips
Pacon Art Street Construction Paper Pack
PaperMate WriteBros Grip Mechancial Pencils (12 pk.)
PaperPro Nano Mini Stapler
Poly Index Card Box
Post-it 3″x3″ Super Sticky Die-Cut Notes
Post-it Flags
Really Useful Boxes (.55L)
Scholastic Notebooks
Sharpie Accent Generation Highlighters (5 pk.)
Uniball Vision RT Bold (3-pk.)

:: $3 Deals

Fashion Pencil Cup (black)
Fashion Sorter (white)
Liquid Paper Dryline Correction Tape (2 pk.)
Office Depot Brand Clipboard
Office Depot Brand Heavyweight Sheet Protectors (25 pk.)
Water Bottle

:: $4 Deals

Avery Write-On Plastic Dividers with Erasable Tabs (5&8 tabs)
Docket Legal Pads (3 pk.)
PaperPro Evo Compact Stapler
Pentel R.S.V.P. Ballpoint Pens (12 pk.)

:: $5 Deals

Foray Rollerball Pens (12 pk.)
Mr. Sketch Scented Markers (12 pk.)
Post-it Apple Popup Note Dispensers
Select 3M Fashion Labels

:: Other Deals

Lexar 8GB TwistTurn S50 USB Flash Drive, $10
Olympus VN-7000 Digital Voice Recorder, $34.99
Texas Instruments TI-30XIIS Scientific Calculator, $12.99
All Backpacks, 25% Off
Select Writing Pens, Markers, Highlighters & Pencils, 50% Off
i.e. Fashion Laptop Sleeves, $17.99-$27.99
Smead Color File Folders (100 pk.), $10
Smead 19 Pocket Case File, $9
Smead Color Hanging Folders (25 pk.)
Poly Binders, $3.99-$7.99
Fashion Notebooks, Water Bottles, Pencil Pouches and more, psa $0.99

:: Mail-In Rebate Deals

Texas Instruments TI-84 Plus Silver Edition Graphing Calculator, $129.99 (Sunday-Tuesday Only)
$5 Instant Savings
$15 Mail-In Savings Visa Prepaid Card
$109.99 after Mail-In Savings!

Texas Instruments TI-84 Plus Graphing Calculator, $119.99
$5 Instant Savings
$15 Mail-In Savings Visa Prepaid Card
$99.99 after Mail-In Savings!

Staples Back To School Savings 8/14/11

August 15, 2011 by Leave a Comment

Staples

Great back-to-school deals again at Staples this week!

If you have a lot of supplies to buy, Staples is also offering an additional 15% off all school supplies through 9/17/11 when you buy a savings pass for $10! There are plenty of deals to be had if you’re willing to shop multiple stores each week, but if you want to simplify your back-to-school shopping, the savings pass may be a good option for you.

:: $0.01 Deals

Staples 1-Subject 10.5″x8″Notebooks (70 sheets)

:: $0.25 Deals

Sharpie Fine, Black Permanent Markers (2 pk.)
Simply 1/2″ Poly Binder (assorted colors)
Staples 3.25″x4.5″ 80-Sheet Mini Compositi9on Book (2 pk.)

:: $0.50 Deals

Epson Heavyweight 8.5″x11″ Matte Photo Paper (50 sheets)
Hammermill 8.5″x11″ CopyPlus Copy Paper (500 sheets)
Staples Dual Dome Pencil Sharpener
Staples Jumbo Assorted Colors Paper Clips (50/box)
Staples Translucent Pencil Box

:: $1 Deals

Stretch Pencil Box
Bic Student’s Choice Mechanical Pencils (4 pk.)
Staples Pushpins, Binder Clips and Paper Clips (assorted sizes)
Staples 5.5″x4.25″ Fat Memo Book (200 sheets)
Backpack Folders
Rose Art Washable Broad Line Markers

:: $2 Deals

Crayola Large Washable Crayons
Zebra Z-Grip Animals Retractable Ballpoint Pens
Expo 8.9″x11.8″ Double-Sided Writing Practice and Plain Dry Erase Board
Roselle Professional 9″x12″ Drawing Pad (40 sheets)
Staples 5″x3″ Memo Books (75 sheets)
Really Useful 1.6L Box
Staples Premium Handheld 1-Hole Punch
Expo Dry-Erase Board Cleaner
Studio C by Carolina Pad 1-Subject Notebook or Composition Book
Staples Pencil Pouch with Mesh Pocket
Webster’s Pocket Reference Books (dictionary)
Mars Plastic Erasers
Bic Atlantis Retractable Ballpoint Pens
Germ-X Hand Sanitizer (8 oz.)
EnduraGlide Low-Odor Dry-Erase Fine Tip Markers
Clorox Disinfectant Fresh Scent Wipes
Softsoap Hand Soap (7.5 oz.)

:: $3 Deals

22″x28″ White Poster Boards
8.5″x11″ Monthly Calendar Board with Marker
Crayola Washable Dry-Erase Crayons
Crayola Dry-Erase Markers
Staples Top & Side Opening Expandable File
Staples Eraser and Grip Combo Pack
Kleenex Standard Facial Tissue (2 pk.)

:: $5 Deals

Triplus Fineliner Extra Fine Marker Pens
Bic Mark-it Fine Tip Markers
Staples Pastels 8.5″x11″ Colored Paper

:: Must Have Technology

SanDisk Cruzer 8GB USB Flash Drive, $9.99
Western Digital My Passport Essential 1TB Drive USB 3.0, $89.99
Toshiba Laptop with Intel Core i3-2310 Processor, $429.99
Casio FX-260slrs 10-Digit Scientific Calculator, $9.49
Texas Instruments TI-30Xa 10-Digit Scientific Calculator, $9.99
Texas Instruments TI-30SXIIS 2-Line 10-Digit Scientific Calculator, $14.99
Texas Instruments TI-83 Plus Graphing Calculator, $89.99
Kindle Wi-Fi with Special Offers and 6″ Display, $114
Kindle 3G, FREE 3G + Wi-Fi with Special Offers and 6″ Display, $139
NOOK Simple Touch Reader with 6″ Display, $139
NOOK Color with 7″ Display, $249
Snow/Skate/Surf 4GB Flash Drives, $12.99
Animal 4GB USB Flash Drive, $12.99

:: Other Deals

Dell Switchable Lids, $29.99-$49.99
All Bic Pens, Pencils, Markers, Highlighters & Correction Fluid B2G1 FREE
The Original Book Sox, $2.99-$4.99
All Backpacks, 25%-50% Off
Buckle Lid Storage Box (62 qt.), $6.99
Locker Planet Magnetic Accessories, $3.99-$12.99

Zebra Cadoozles 0.7 mm Mechanical Pencils (10 pk.), $3.99
$3.99 Easy Rebate
FREE after Easy Rebate!

Texas Instruments TI-84 Plus Silver 8-Line 16-Digit Scientific Calculator, $129.99
$5 Instant Savings
$15 Easy Rebate
$109.99 after instant savings and easy rebate!

Vistaprint 250 Custom Premium Business Cards For $2 (Today Only!)

August 12, 2011 by Tara Kuczykowski 1 Comment

Vistaprint will be running a series of one-day only back-to-school specials this week, and today only you can score 250 custom premium business cards for just $2! Perfect for serving as emergency contact cards or for placing notes in lunch boxes. Choose from thousands of designs and customize.

We use these as family contact cards by listing our address, cell phone numbers and family email address on them. They’re perfect for making sure other parents have all the essential information on play dates!

Here’s how to order your $2 custom business cards:

Create your personalized business cards.
Checkout making sure to opt out of any offers you’re not interested in.
You’ll only pay about $4.41 for shipping and handling when you select the “Slow” shipping. (In my experience it always comes much faster than stated.)

Offer good today, Friday 8/12, only!

Easy No-Sew Pencil Holder and Notebook Cover

August 12, 2011 by Tara Kuczykowski 5 Comments

The first day of school is right around the corner for us, so we did this little craft project the other day to get the kids excited about going back! Putting these cute pencil holders and notebook covers was simple enough for my older kids to do by themselves and requires no sewing skills.

We picked up all of the necessary supplies at Walmart for about $15, including a couple of notebooks and a box of pencils. You should be able to get at least six notebook covers and nine pencil holders out of one package of felt, so these would make great, inexpensive gifts as well.

Here’s what you need:

package of multi-colored felt, $3.97
Aleene’s Fabric Fusion Adhesive, $4.97
buttons or other embellishments, $1.97
pencils, $0.94
4×6 notebooks, $0.94 ea.

The glue was the biggest expense in this project, but this little bottle will go a long way. Plus I can see it coming in very handy for so many other things, especially since it’s washable after 48 hours!

To make the pencil holders:

Cut one piece of felt that is 3″ x 12″ and another that is 3″ x 6″. I used two different colors for contrast.
Apply fabric glue to both long sides and the bottom short side of the smaller piece of felt.
Just line up the edges and press together.
Embellish with buttons or other items and fill with pencils once the glue dries.

To make the notebook covers:

Cut a piece of felt that is 6 1/2″ x 12″.
Center your notebook on the felt and fold the edges over — it should be about 1 1/2″ folded on each side to allow it to close once glued.
Glue the top and bottom in place to hold the notebook. At this point you may want to remove the notebook and use a heavy book or pan to hold the felt flat while the glue is drying.
Embellish with buttons or other items and reinsert the notebook once the glue dries.

I really wanted to use my pinking shears to fancy up the edges, but of course, I can’t find them at the moment. I’m sure they’ll turn up — just a little afraid to see where.

Wouldn’t the notebooks make a fun meet-the-teacher gift?

Disclosure: I am a participant in the Walmart Moms program. Walmart has provided me with compensation for the time and effort spent creating this post. However, my participation in this program is voluntary and my opinions are my own — always have been, always will be.