The world has gone digital. Everything is high definition, electronic, and Internet-accessible. This even applies to shopping for back-to-school supplies. The closer it gets to the beginning of the school year, the more crowded the malls and shopping centers become, filled with parents trying to find last-minute deals. It can rival the insanity of Black Friday. Why put yourself through that stress when you could shop from home, and save money? Here are a few ways to do just that when you’re getting ready to send your kids back to school.

School Supplies

While some schools may be moving toward fully computer-based teaching and learning, the majority of schools still do things the old-fashioned way—with paper and pencil, or at least pen. Kids still need notebooks, rulers, writing instruments, and a handful of other tools to get through the school day. Younger kids will need crayons, construction paper, and safety scissors. And don’t forget the glitter and glue.

The best places to find these supplies are at discount and big box stores such as Walmart, Target, and KMart where the inventory is broad, and the prices are low. You can save even more, though, with coupons and discount codes, and luckily, those stores all have websites. Find Walmart coupon codes or Target coupon codes, and you’ll save on school supplies. Even better, you’ll save a trip to the crowded store by doing your back-to-school shopping online. Some coupon codes will even cover shipping, while you’re also saving on the gas it would take to drive to the store. It’s win-win.

Clothes and Shoes

Ask your kids to try on the school clothes they wore just a few months ago, and you may be surprised to see how short the pants are, that they can’t button their shirts closed anymore, or their bellies poke out from under their pullovers. Kids grow so fast, you may sometimes wish it was still acceptable for them to just run around in their undies the way they did as toddlers. Until that happens, they need new clothes for school, but you don’t have to go broke buying a whole new wardrobe.

Forget dragging your kid from store to store to find clothes. That’s just torture for both of you. Kids’ sizes are pretty standard. Find a few items in your child’s closet that fit well, and use those sizes as your guidelines when you go online, and again, break out the coupon codes. Many stores offer them for clothing, and other school accessories. For example, Kohls promo codes can get you deals on school clothes, and things like backpacks and shoes. The fewer sites you have to go to, the better, right?

Textbooks

The back-to-school frenzy isn’t just for elementary, middle, and high school students. In fact, it may be even more stressful once your kids get to college. One semester’s worth of textbooks can easily cost as much as your kid’s entire wardrobe when he was going through puberty and seemed to grow in one direction or another every week. Okay, maybe that’s an exaggeration (a small one), but the fact is, textbooks are expensive.

Or are they? Traditional textbooks are, that’s for sure, and textbook publishers seem to enjoy making teeny, tiny changes in order to come out with new editions from year to year, semester to semester, to force students to have to keep up. Buying used textbooks has always been a good option for saving money, but now you can save even more by going digital. Many textbooks are now available on e-readers, for a fraction of what paper-bound textbooks cost. Before you hand over all that money to the campus bookstore, go online and check to see whether the textbooks required for your kid’s course of study are available in digital format. It may be worth buying them an e-reader for school.

Decide to do things a little differently this year by staying home to do your back-to-school shopping, and you’ll not only save money, you’ll save yourself a lot of aggravation and time.

Author Bio:
Maria Davis is a freelance writer specializing in topics such as parenting, personal finance and budget living. There’s nothing she loves more than finding ways to teach her kids life lessons and how to live well for less money!