Southern Savers

Join me tomorrow night for our weekly Monday Night Q&A session, starting at 8:30 pm. This week we will chat about favorite rewards programs, loyalty perks and even credit cards. (This is our favorite way to travel and well worth it).

Feel free to bring any other questions you have too (they can always be off topic)!

You can watch and ask questions right from Southern Savers on Monday Night, or head to facebook or youtube and watch/comment there. Whatever is easiest for you.

It’s the height of summer, and I don’t know about you, but I’m tired of cooking. I’m sticking with easy meals that don’t get me overheated while I’m preparing them. I’m also doing a lot of batch cooking where we eat the same thing for multiple meals in the same week. With teenagers in the house, we may not have enough leftovers from one meal, but usually on the weekends we can cobble together leftovers from multiple meals and have enough for everyone. This free weekly meal plan for July 21 has some grab-and-go breakfast ideas and some cold lunch ideas perfect if you have to be out and about!

Southern Savers FREE Weekly Meal Plan for July 21 – July 27

A casserole dish with 6 burritos topped with cheese and bacon.

low carb breakfast burritos

Breakfast

turkey hummus wraps

Lunch

buffalo chicken dip

Dinner

What are you eating this week? Let us know in the comments!

Deal Ideas:

Boys’ Kingston Tattersall Performance Cotton Shirt – $24.49 (reg. $69.50)
with code ESCAPE

Girls’ Emmy Top – $27.99 (reg. $48)
with code ESCAPE

Girls’ Watercolor Elf Whale Long-Sleeve Tee – $6.99 (reg. $32.50)
with code ESCAPE

2025 School Supplies Buy Price List

Pencils, Erasers, & Pens
No. 2 Pencils, 8-10 pk: 50¢
Mechanical Pencils, 10 ct: $1
Pencil Pouch: 99¢
Pink Erasers, 2 pk: 49¢
Pencil Top Erasers, 12 ct: 49¢
Manual Pencil Sharpener: 50¢
Pens, 4-10ct.: 99¢
Gel Pens, 2 pk: $1.85
Dry Erase Marker, 4 pk: $2.99

Arts & Crafts
Crayola Crayons, 24 ct: 50¢
Other Crayons, 24 ct: 35¢
Crayola Markers, 10 ct: 99¢
Other Markers, 10 ct: 50¢
Crayola Colored Pencils, 12 ct: 99¢
Watercolor Paints, 10 ct: $1
Scissors: 75¢ – $1.50

8 Ways to Save on Back to School Supplies

Start Early
I know you don’t have your school list or even know what teachers your kids will have, that doesn’t need to stop you. The sales are running now through the third week of August—for 6 weeks. That’s it! If you don’t go back to school ’til September and you wait until the night before to shop, you’ll cry. In general, you can guess what your kiddos need and you’ll probably be 95% spot on. What did you use when you were 6? Crayons, pencils, and markers…

Starting before you have the “official” list may seem dangerous, but if you end up grabbing an extra pack of pencils at 10¢ a pack it’s not nearly as bad as paying $2 for them the night before.

Double Your Quantity
This tip isn’t so much about cutting the budget right now but more about planning ahead. Most school supply lists never have enough on them to get you through the year, and, sadly, we NEVER see a spring school supply sale. Double whatever you think you need so that you have a stash of supplies to last all year. This is huge in our house with us homeschooling. This year may be the first year that we bought enough and didn’t run out for crayons or paper mid-year.

Shop for home, too: It’s probably best to prepare for having kids at home more this fall. Grab items that will help with homework, homeschooling, projects and just having fun! Can you really ever have too many crayons?

Shop One Store for Basics
Things have changed a bit in the last 5 years and we now see every store run the same prices for ALL of back to school shopping. So the 35¢ notebooks at Target will be on sale for a bit. There is no need to run around town, just grab what you need in one place. We are seeing the lowest prices at Staples, Target and Walmart this year with all having very similar sales.

Don’t Forget Coupons
We actually do see coupons for back to school items! Elmer’s, BIC, Paper Mate, Five Star and Sharpie will put coupons in mobile apps like Ibotta or Fetch or directly in store apps. Also watch for store coupons off your entire back to school purchase. We see these every year from Target, Staples, and Dollar General. Use the coupon database to find all the coupons.

Quality Is Worth It
It pays to always go with a higher quality backpack, lunch box and even binders. These take a beating, and in the long run not having to replace them becomes the savings. Many of the higher end brands offer lifetime guarantees that truly make it a deal! Read More→

This zero gravity chair is padded! Get it at Woot for just $43.98 (reg. $82), but don’t wait long because supplies are limited!

Not only is this chair padded, but it also includes a detachable tray with two cup holders, a phone mount, and a tablet holder. Take it with you anywhere because it’s lightweight and easily foldable!