What I got at Old Navy!

The picture quality is a little crummy, but this is what I got at the Old Navy $3 t-shirt sale.  There was a limit of 5 shirts, but I wanted 7 so I just got back on line.  I also wanted a pair of flipflops to close out the summer in - they were 2 for $5, so I got my mom a pair, too (not pictured).

I had a 20% off coupon, which I used on my transaction for the first 5 shirts and the flipflops.  The other 2 shirts I had to suck it up and pay the full $3.  Oh, well.

The shirts were tagged at $12.50 EACH, which means the total cost of everything pictured here should've been $90.  I paid a little over $20!  What a deal!  To sweeten the pot, I also got 10% my next purchase for filling out a very quick survey with my receipt details online.  Nice!

These shirts will be great under little jackets with jeans or with cute skirts for back-to-school.  I'm lucky because the dress code at my school is pretty casual, so I can count these as work clothes, even though they'll get mostly weekend use.  The flipflops, obviously, I can't  wear to work, but I plan to live in them after 3:00 weekdays and all day Saturday and Sunday until October.  

What I did for Teacher Appreciation Day

Check out what I scored for Teacher Appreciation Day!  You can't see everything in the picture, so of course I'm willing to give a breakdown of the scene (which, for the record, took forever to set up, so I hope you appreciate it!)  

*OD indicates Office Depot free gift for TA Day

*S indicates Staples free gift for TA day (I went to 2 different Staples, so I got doubles of everything)

$OD indicates that I purchased the item at Office Depot.

From left corner, moving down:

Two purple milk crates $OD

4 packs of Ricola Minis $OD

10 "Very Useful" small storage cubes w/ tops (5 packs) $OD

2 Plastic Pencil Boxes *S

5 Steno Pads *S 2 eco-friendly 2-packs / *OD 1 single

Fold Out Ruler *OD

2 Boxes of 12 pencils *S

2 Herbal Essences conditioner samples $OD (hey, they were a quarter each, I couldn't resist!!!)

2 packs 50-ct Push Pins *S

2 packs 100-ct vinyl-coated paperclips *S

Post-It Note dispenser *OD

5 packs of 3M Poster Stickies 4 packs *S / 1 pack *OD

From just left of center, heading down:

2 Staples Tote Bags *S

Sight Words Bingo $OD

Money Tray $OD

4 larger-sized (7 l) Very Useful Containers with lids (2 blue, 2 clear) $OD

5 packs of 4-ct glue sticks $OD

6 packs of 12-ct pencil top erasers technically $OD, except they were FREE.

2 Chapsticks

Center, foreground of photo:

3 packs Expo Dry Erase Markers (2 10-ct with whiteboard eraser / 1 16-ct) $OD

2 highlighters, 2 pencils, 1 pilot Varsity fountain pen, 1 Expo marker, 2 mini-mechanical pencils with squishy grip things *S highlighers and mechanical pencils w/ grippys / *OD pencils, Expo marker and Varsity Pen.

2 folders paper folder *S / plastic folder *OD

DVD-R *OD

From far right, heading down:

Office Depot Tote *OD

White Sentence Strips $OD

Multicolored Sentence Strips $OD

--------------------------

Aaaannndddd for the totals!  Drumroll please:

All Office Depot purchases cost me $79.00 out of pocket.  I got two coupons while I was there (one Register Reward and one tear-off as part of TA day) for $10 off future orders.  If I apply those savings now (as theoretical, since they function like cash-back) I spent $59.00.

Going over my Office Depot receipts, if I had bought this merchandise at full-price without my teacher's discount, I'd have spent $185!  That means that I SAVED $126!!!  If I estimate the costs of the free merchandise from both Staples and Office Depot, I probably saved closer to $150!

Future posts will detail my experiences at both Teacher Appreciation Days (and the Old Navy T-Shirt sale!) and give a little bit more information about where my biggest savings were and what the best (and worst!) parts of each day were.

New Office Depot 8/23 - 8/30 Circular with some good deals

I'm new to the Office Depot game, largely because I don't feel compelled to trek into Manhattan from Brooklyn to shop there.  That said, there are some great deals going on at Office Depot next week that might just get my lazy self on the train... especially if I can meet up with someone to have lunch or something.  

But for those of you lucky enough to live near an Office Depot--or those who will be near one this coming week--I wanted to share the highlights from this week's sales.

First off, 10-packs of #2 pencils are $0.10!  Awesome.  While it's not 10 or 12-packs for a penny (why hasn't Staples offered that yet this August?  Is the Office Max sale for real?), it's getting late enough in the season that this deal looks good.

Pencil cases (they look sort of cute) are also on sale for $0.10.  This is a better deal than the previously posted Staples pencil cases for $0.33, but it's hard to tell from the picture what the quality is.  Worth looking into, for sure.  

Wow!  Purell is on sale for $0.25 - well worth getting a whole bunch!  I go through this stuff like crazy with my young students.  These look like travel size bottles in the picture, which is not as big a savings as if they were bigger, but travel Purell still retails at around $0.99 - $1.29, so this is still somewhere in the ballpark of 75-80% off.  

Also a quarter each are 2-packs of scissors and 24-ct crayons, though it's worth noting that these are NOT Crayola crayons.  I usually don't display brand allegiance in the face of deals.  There are three exceptions where I ALWAYS buy my brand:  ketchup (Heinz), tampons (you don't really need to know that!) and Crayola crayons/markers.  I wouldn't buy anything but Crayola because the crayons seem to break/crumble and the markers seem to dry out on every other brand.  Even if they're super cheap, it's not worth it in the long run.

Now, there ARE LIMITS on these items, and Office Depot's position is that they do not waive or extend limits for teachers, so you need to either bring people with you or be willing to make multiple transactions to get what you need.  

They also have some cool FREE items, either with instant or mail-in rebate.  Up to 5 folders and up to 3 protractors are absolutely FREE - no rebate or anything! - in store all week.  Crazy!  While you can do multiple transactions for the sales, I don't think you'll be able to get away with that on the free items.

There are also FREE mail in rebates on Sharp Calculators ($6.99 laid out, given back on a prepaid Visa) and Sharpie 5-packs ($4.49 laid out, given back on a prepaid Visa), which is sort of nifty.

If you go here you can also print a $10 off $40+ purchases coupon, but since you probably need to make 8 million transactions to get enough pencils or whatever, you may not be able to spend that much.

New Staples Weekly Ad!

Usually we have to wait until Sundays to see the new Staples Weekly Ad, but I got an alert to my inbox today about the new sale!  Woot!  I couldn't navigate to it through the mainpage (I still got the current weekly ad) but see if you can see the page by clicking the link they sent me here.  Just don't buy anything - you're logged in as me!  :-)

In case you can't see the ad, or in case you're feeling lazy on this hot-as-Hades August day, here's my brief synopsis of the best of the weekly ad.  This is not a complete listing, but they're the deals that I thought might actually be worth it.

2-Pocket Folders are finally on penny sale!  Yeah!  Usually teacher limits are 25, but that's when in-store limits are 2-5.  Since the normal person limit on these is 20, we'll probably be able to push the envelope on this one, but since I need 100, I'll still need to make multiple trips (or bring friends to help).

Staples 4-pack Dry Erase Markers are $3.99 BOGO - works out to $2 a pack or $0.50 a marker.  Pick from fine or chisel tip.

Expo Dry Erase 12-pack are on sale for $10.00, down from $15.98!  This is a good deal if you like to have assorted colors for your dry-erase boards (I know I do!) and works out to $1.20/marker.  While this is higher by over 100% than the staples Dry-Erase on sale, you may choose Expo for one of several reasons:  Expo are known to be excellent dry erase markers, while I think the Staples brand is new.  You may have a finicky white board that isn't as good with cheaper markers (I'm looking at you, LiquiMark!  You suck!).  Or you may just be into the colors.  I would suggest getting one or two Expo 12-packs (put one away until December) and then using the BOGO above to stock up on everything else you need.

Sharpie Felt-Tip Pens BOGO - $6.99 for a fine-tip 4-pack or $9.99 for the assorted colors 6-pack.  The assorted colors are good for grading (black, blue, green, purple and orange, plus a red that I'm sure you can use for something).  I am OBSESSED with these pens, and this is a really good deal.  Seriously, best. pens. Ever!

24-pack multicolored Sharpies $10.00.

36-pack Staples brand Gel Pens $10.00 (I thought Gel Pens went out in like, 1999!)

Staples Plastic Pencil Cases B1G2 $0.99 (works out to $0.33 each!)

Staples Construction Paper Ream B1G2 $4.99 (works out to $1.66 each!)

20%-50% off backpacks 

HP 4-gig Flash Drive $9.99 

And now here's a deal that might  be worth it and might not be.... I won't do it, but you might be interested, depending on how much money you're willing to lay out.

Staples is offering a BOGO after Rebate on 5-ream Typing Paper Cartons.  These retail at $24.99 each, so paying for 2 requires you to shell out $50.  Yikes!  But then you'll get a $25 instant rebate and have paid $25 - or $2.50 each ream - for the paper.  There are also coupons floating around (I haven't found any, but if I do, I'll post - I'm on it!) that are $20 off orders of $50+, which could get the layout down to $30 and the total cost down to $5.00 - or $0.50 a ream!  I'm not usually a rebate fan, and I wouldn't lay out the $50, but I would be willing to lay out $30 to get 10 reams of paper for $5.00.  I'll post if I find the coupons.

Another wipey post!

 Another wipey post!

Just wanted to let everyone know that www.coupons.com has a printable coupon to save $1.50 on any "Huggies Diapers Product."  There seems to be some debate on internet coupon forums whether this counts towards wipes, as they're not technically a diaper product, but are a diapering product.  Ah, semantics!  

Anyway, I'm not sure if this will count towards wipes, but if you can't find the Walgreens coupon for $2 off this is a good alternative, bringing the price down to $1.29 from $2.79.  If you can find the Walgreens coupon, you may be able to double them, bringing the price down to FREE for the first container of Wipeys and $0.79 for each additional package!  There's actually a little bit of overage on the coupon, so you may have to adjust one down OR you may get the discount rolled over to the remainder of your purchase, so if you're trying to use both coupons, definitely get 2+ boxes at this amazing price!

Dilemma! Old Navy T-Shirt Sale is the same day as Teacher Appreciation Day!

Old Navy has been having some great sales lately.  Earlier in the month they had all ribbed tank tops on sale for $2, and all women's jeans are currently $19 (kids' jeans are $10!).  On Saturday, August 22, 2009 they are running a one-day promotion where all basic tee-shirts will be on sale for $3 (limit 5).  For those of you who are not math teachers, that means you can get 5 shirts for $15 with tax.

Also, every Thursday night Old Navy updates their Weekly Ad, and they include hidden clickable coupons in the pictures.  Grab your mouse and start clipping, and you can find some good deals!  Mostly I've found 10% off your order (which brings the shirts down to $13.50 for 5 / $2.70 each) but there are better deals floating around out there.  There is even a $75 off orders of $100 or more (!!!!).  That's almost free!

So what's the plan now for Saturday, where I have two Teacher Appreciation days and the Old Navy sale (which, remember, is while supplies last?)

Scenario One:  Get up at 7:45.  Be on line at Staples by 8:30 to get my package right at 9:00.  Check sales quickly and make some purchases (if I find anything good).  Leave by 9:30.  Get on train to Office Depot in Manhattan and arrive by 10:30.  Grab a free coffee and a gift, check sales and be on line by 11:00.  Rush to nearest Old Navy (14th st?) on the Subway, get there between 11:30 and 12:00, buy t-shirts (unless I found a major coupon, in which case I'll get other stuff too).

Scenario Two:  Get up at 7:00.  Drive to the shopping center that has a Staples and an Old Navy, about 15-30 minutes away depending on traffic.  Get to Staples by 8:15 and get on line.  Take my time shopping the sales, get a gift and head over to Old Navy around 10.  Skip Office Depot.  (Less free stuff, but less hassle)

Scenario Three:  Get up at 7:45.  Be on line at Staples by 8:30 to get my package right at 9:00.  Check sales quickly and make some purchases (if I find anything good).  Leave by 9:30.  Get on train to Office Depot in Manhattan and arrive by 10:30.  Grab a free coffee and a gift, check sales and be on line by 11:00.  Skip Old Navy and pass on the super cheap t-shirts.  Go home.  Cry.

I'll let you know which one I choose!  :-)

Target Dollar Deals - Mostly Prize Box

I love Target (as I've said before) and I hit the dollar bins for a bit today to see what kind of deals I could snag.

It was a little picked through, and there were obviously a lot of parents shopping for back-to-school, but I managed to score some great deals, especially for my prize box.

For The Classroom:

 This is not the exact set I got, but they look very similar.  Plastic magnetic clips (assorted colors or in solid black or solid white) are $1 for a 4-pack.  These are great for pinning charts to the whiteboard/blackboard and to other magnetized surfaces (like those big industrial heaters in the corner of the room that are only on for a few months!).  They can also be used on the chart line in a pinch, but they're a little heavy for that.

These plastic clothespins were $1 for an 18-pack.  They came in blue but I got them in bright pink.  I know it sounds like a nothing issue, but they're really cute.  Even though I could use plain wood clothespins, for $2 I got enough of these to make even the chart hangings in my classroom super-cute.  I know it's lame, but things like this really do get noticed.  If I had to pay out a lot for this item, I'd have stuck with wood, but for such a low price it was better to get them now and get something cute.  This is especially true because I always forget to buy clothespins and end up bumming off other teachers or scrounging around in the bottom of my closet to try to find some.  It's not worth it.

For The Prize Box:

Okay, before I show you the great stuff I got for my prize box, I should explain my system.  This is no dinky treasure chest.  This is a serious deal.  Prizes in the prize box are given "price" values ranging from 2 - 100 (really big ticket items are "intangibles" like lunch with the teacher - a great way to bond with your student with almost no cost and a great vocabulary word).  Students earn tickets for doing the right thing in the classroom but they do not lose tickets.  Every 2 weeks the prize box opens and everyone can shop.  You can choose to spend or save or a combination of the two.  

In order for the prize box to work, I have to have a wide variety of prizes that appear to be "worth" different amounts, even though they're all dirt cheap.  The Target dollar bins SAVE me in this area, because a lot of their dollar items can sell in my classroom for 20-40 points, which means I'm not giving them away as quickly as the small prizes and it encourages the  children to save.

I know a lot of teachers have a problem with prize boxes and incentive programs.  I got yelled at for being a Behaviorist in one of my grad school classes last year.  But I mean it, nothing beats the prize box for classroom management, and I like being able to reward the kids for doing a great job.  I also do all of the classroom community stuff to help teach my children to be good people--prizes or no--but the prizes really help them remember this message on the days they want to forget.

This here was the find of the week!  These are High School Musical 3 poster books that retail on Amazon.com for $7.99.  They were in the dollar bin, so I stocked up and got 8.  There are 12 kids in my class and only 4 girls, but sometimes kids buy prizes as presents for friends and relatives.  Also, everyone likes HSM (not just the girls) so I needed to be prepared for a lot of people to want them.

Buying large quantities of a good item is also good for prize box inflation.  Let's say I got 8 HSM books and I put 5 out in the prize box and they go right away.  Maybe some kids are disappointed that they didn't have enough tickets to buy one before they sold out.  I time it so that a kid (or a few) who would've liked it (or wants another) may have enough tickets for it and I announce at Prize Time a few weeks later that I managed to find three more HSM poster books!  I may decide to charge the same "price" or I may decide to jack the price up a little bit to really encourage the kids to work for it over the next few weeks.  But most importantly, this is a prize that they will LOVE, and that keeps everyone happy.

This is not the exact image of what I got; I found something even better!  For $1 I got a package of 6 large, puffy, shiny Hannah Montana binder stickers.  In case you didn't know, little girls will do almost anything for Hannah Montana, but her stuff is expensive because she's both self-branded and a Disney product.  I was shocked to find Hannah Montana stuff in the dollar bin.  The only other time I managed to score some HM product was when Kay-Bee Toys went out of business last year and everything was prized to go; even then, I didn't get any HM stuff for a dollar.  Since she is so loved (like HSM, which is a little easier to find on the cheap, though it's sometimes knockoff stuff) and so hard to get at a good price, I got several of these and may go back for more before  school starts.

Everyone likes Super Heroes (while not everyone likes Hannah and HSM), so I was excited to find these Spiderman magnets in the dollar bin.  Again, the quality is way higher than $1 and I can easily rank this set at 25 tickets so it'll last for a while.  

Even more exciting than Spidey, though, was the other super hero that was offered in a magnet set (though I couldn't find a picture of the set online).  No, not Superman or Batman.  Not even Aquaman or the Green Lantern.  I'm talking, friends, about IronMan.

...what?

OK, let me explain.

This is Ironman.  I have no idea what his powers are.  His outfit is pretty dopey looking to me.  But I have a boy in my class, N, who is obsessed with Ironman.  Every Prize Box day N would ask me if I'd managed to score any Ironman stuff for the Prize Box.  I never saw anything Ironman EVER, forget about on the cheap, so he was always a little disappointed (though easily plied with Tek-Decks and Legos, both of which are sort of expensive).  N is one of my biggest behavior issues, but he responds to stuff.  If he knew he wanted something in the Box, he would keep himself in check until he got enough tickets to buy it.  If he wasn't interested, he'd be punching people, cursing, throwing things and other disruptive behaviors.  While we will be working with N a lot next year on his behavior and his anger (I finally got him counseling services), the very idea of Ironman in the Prize Box excites me.

I also found Spiderman activity/coloring books that are pretty cool, but I couldn't find a picture anywhere.

Anyway, I spent less than $20 in the dollar bin today and I got a ton of classroom stuff, including some really high-value items.  I know Target dollar bins vary in stock by region, so you may not find the same deals I did, but it is ALWAYS worth checking the Target $1 section; I almost always get at least a few things for my class.

Almost Free Baby Wipes

If you're like me, your class goes through Baby Wipes like they're going out of style.  Every time we use clay, paint, the rice bin or sand table, or any other slightly-messy activity, the wipes come out.  We even have a monitor for it.

Even though they're on the supply list at the beginning of the year (and on the Christmas Refill list!), we are always low on Wipeys.  So free samples of wipes are the way to go!

 I've never heard of this company, but they apparently make baby wipes, hand sanitizer, feminine wipes, and adult tush wipes (wtf?!).  They have a section for requesting samples where you write them and send a SASE to request samples.  It's not 100% FREE because it'll cost you two stamps, but I requested adult tush wipes, baby wipes and hand sanitizer in one fell swoop.  In order to excuse the sample greed, I explained that I am a teacher who uses these types of products heavily in the classroom and that I've never encountered their product before.  I'm hoping I get a good response!  You can get their address on the website.

7th Generation makes great baby wipes, but they're pretty expensive.  They're thick, plushy and environmentally friendly, which Cheaper Teachers can't always afford to be.  While they don't appear to offer free samples, they do offer coupons on their website.  Be Careful though, because you can only print command TWICE for each coupon, so make sure your printer is connected and running before you try to print.

While I'm not a big coupon clipper, I want to be.  If you could couple these coupons with a sale on 7th Generation products at Fairway, Target or Rite Aid (they all carry them) you might get an expensive product at an OK price.

(You can also print more than 2 coupons if you use other people's computers, so get your friends to help you and stock up on savings for the year, then wait it out for a sale!)

More Wednesday Freebies to come!

Cheaper Teachers Gear Up for Back To School!

This isn't a teacher-specific discount, but it's a good one for all you Cheaper Teachers out there who need new clothes for Back-To-School in the Fall.  JC Penney has a Save $10 on any $10 or more order coupon code running right now.

And you're thinking... okkkaaayyyy, Cheaper Teacher, that's not that great a deal.  And JC Penny is known for it's samplings of nasty old lady clothes.  What gives?

Well, if you head on over to the site and check the Clearance Section you will see all sorts of good deals, and the clothes are not nearly as ugly as I expected them to be.  I found some cute things!  Their prices range (on clearance) from $5.99 - $9.99, which is how I worked out this deal:  

Step 1:  Cheaper Teacher searched Clearance items for shirts that were cute enough for work.  She decided to go plain and got a white shirt and a black shirt with only a little bit of detailing.  Not too much room for them to be ugly. Each shirt was $5.99 on clearance (down from $22!)

Step 2:  Cheaper Teacher entered Coupon Code GET4BTS and got a $10 discount on her $11.98 purchase.

Step 3:  Cheaper Teacher checked out with $4.99 shipping.

Step 4:  JC Penney sent Cheaper Teacher confirmation that her two shirts (value $44 

+ $5 shipping = $49!) would be shipped.  Total billing was just under $7, or $3.50 per shirt!  This is cheaper than you could probably do at Pretty Girl (though not at Conway) but for much better quality.  The shirts are basic, but will pair well with slacks, skirts and maybe even under blazers (not that I wear blazers to work, but some of you Secondaries might!).

There are other retailers that will be having great sales around this time of year, and I'll be posting as many as I can find, as well as Teacher-Specific deals and discounts, but I thought I'd start you off with this one.  It was way too good to pass up!

A Love Song to Target

Oh, Target.  How do I love thee?  Let me count the ways:

(1)  You have all sorts of amazing cheap things for my life, home and wardrobe.  Even if I weren't a Cheaper Teacher, we'd be pals.

(2)  Your August School Supply Sales are amazing.  So far I have gotten:

(3)  10-pack wide Crayola markers for $1 each!  This may sound expensive considering that Rose Art goes for about half that on sale, but kids, let me tell you something, Rose Art markers are the WORST.  You'll pay 3X as much if you get that junk.  I got 15 packs of markers and they should last me the year.  Target is also amazing because they have no limits on how many of a sale item you can buy.  <3

(4)  24-count Crayola crayons for 25-cents.  I know I said that I got these cheaper at Staples the last few years, but Staples is holding out on me and I couldn't pass this deal.  Again, with no limits, I got crayons to last the year and then some (32 boxes, if you're wondering - they break and get lost so easily that I'd rather be safe than sorry) for $8.  A steal!

(5)  Target Dollar Bins:  This is the first place I go when I walk into a Target.  They have all sorts of amazing things for teachers.  Just last week I got:

(6)  4-packs of magnetized clips for $1.00 (that's 25 cents a clip, kids!).  While cheaper to buy clothespins for hanging charts, having magnetized clips for your whiteboard or magnetized chalkboard is magical.  They can also put charts on a clothesline in a pinch.

(7)  Happy Birthday / Super Student Certificates:  24 in a set for a dollar.  At the time I bought them I thought my class might be changing to a class of 27 (from my Special Ed 12) but I got my class back, and I've got extras for next year.

(9)  Student Name Plates:  24/$1.  Last year I got red ones with monkeys and bananas.  This year they're blue with stars.  They had all sorts of selections, all cute for different age groups.  Last year when I got these they lasted all year with a strip of clear packing tape over them.  Made of good card stock.  A teacher supply store would easily get $3-5 for a pack of 12 of these babies.

(10)  The Prize Box.  Target's dollar bin keeps me in prize box purchases all year.  They're also great for holiday and year-end gifts for your students if you do that.  My year-end gifts for the kids cost me $40 TOTAL (only a few cents over $3/kid) and were adorable - each child got a pail and shovel set ($1 each), sports bottle (50 cents each), pack of sidewalk chalk ($1 each), bath squirty, bubbles, pencils and bookmarks.  It was insane!  I plan to post lots of prize box finds as I come across them.

(11)  Tupperware!  Both for storage and for lunches!  

There are a million and one other reasons I love Target, but man, I'm tired!  More later.

What's the deal with Recession Penny Sales?

I became a teacher in 2007.  The summer before I started teaching, I found out about Penny Sales and my life was forever changed.  I stocked up!  My first summer I got rulers for either a penny or a nickel (can't remember, but I got about a million), two-packs of scissors for 5 cents, white Elmer's glue for 5 cents a bottle, the coveted paper folders for a penny each, 12-packs of pencils for a penny, individual pencil sharpeners for 5 cents, 24-packs of Crayola crayons for 15 cents, and all sorts of other good stuff.  My second summer, I got the pencils, folders, glue and sharpeners again.  I also got crayons again, but they might have spent 20 cents on them.  I got some other things that I'm not remembering, but I know for a fact that both summers I STOCKED UP.  Remember that even though there are strict limits on these deep discounts, teachers get up to 25 as their limit (instead of like, three).  You can bring friends to hold baskets and get back on line to do several transactions, or you can shop several times over the course of one day or a few days.  Some cashiers will override any limits and let teachers get away with overages (within reason) if you beg and flirt a little.

But what's going on this year?  I have been striking out at Penny Sales this year.  So many of my favored items are either not on sale at all (I'm looking at you, folders!  I get 90 of these every year so I can color code things, and there's a big difference between 90 cents and the $13.50 that they'd cost at 15 cents, which is the full price).  Other items have turned up, but at less of a discount.  These are still awesome deals for parents buying school supplies for children, but are kind of hurting my pocket.  

Here are the deals that are currently running:

STAPLES, who started the penny sales (to my knowledge) are really falling down on their deals.  There are still some good opportunities, and of course I'll take them, but I'm hoping they ratchet things up a notch in the last weeks of August.

-This week they have 25-cent marble notebooks.  This is awesome for parents, but not so good for me.  I have 12 students, so to get them each one book is $3.  My kids need 5 books (school rules) so that's $15.  If half the parents buy their kids books (which is what happened last year) I can get them all notebooks for about $7.50.  I'll do it, but last year it cost me less than half that.

-They're also offering computer/typing paper for $1, which is an AMAZING deal.  I am running out to do this tomorrow, but it's on a rebate.  Rebate limits can't be extended for teachers (not sure why) so I can only get 2 reams of paper.  I'm not sure if I can just keep getting on line, either, since Staples rebates are filed for online.  Maybe I could beg some friends to file for my rebates for me, but that feels so moochy.

-Packs of pens and hilighters are on sale for $1.  This is an OK deal but I'm going to hold off for now in the hope that they or someone else run them cheaper in the next 2 1/2 weeks.

-Other penny sale items I've gotten that have expired include 6-packs of spiral notebooks for 6 cents (I got 2 packs for 12 cents and have to figure out what to use them for, since marbles are preferable... maybe homework notebooks?) and... that's it.  I haven't seen the pencils, so maybe I missed them when I was on vacation, but those usually repeat.  Also... where are the folders?!?!?!

-Remember that Penny Sales Expire on Wednesday of the week they are listed.  New sales will still be released on Sunday.  I like to check staples.com in advance, but I often just walk in.

Office Max started running commercials about a week ago for their "back to school for pennies" sale.  Cute name.  Except that it's so hard to tell from the website what, exactly, is on the sale.  Unlike Staples, they don't seem to list the penny sale on their Weekly Ad, which is frustrating.  Because I haven't gotten to an Office Max to check out what they're offering, I can't complain as hard as I did about Staples, but I know from seeing the commercials that they weren't mentioning anything that made me want to rush out to an Office Max.  Maybe I'm biased because there is a Staples 5 minutes from my house and Office Max is a 20-30 minute train ride away.  I am going to try to get out to an Office Max this week to scope out the sale situation.  Hopefully they won't have been hit by the recession the way Staples has!

In other news, the best deals I have found so far this year have been at Target.  This post is getting unwieldy, so I'll address that in my next entry.