MARTIN SLOANE | Supermarket Shopper Do homework before doing school shopping

Your children dread it, but you can hardly wait. It's back to school time!
Shopping for school supplies can put a serious crimp in your pocketbook. Here are my suggestions for easing the financial load.
Getting started
First, make a list of required items. Don't take for granted that you know what your children need. Sit down together and work on a shopping list. Ask if your child's school or teacher has a list.
Now that you have your school supplies list, make your best estimate of the cost for each item. For a large family, the estimate can total hundreds of dollars. Would you be happy spending half that amount? All the major retailers who sell school supplies have already begun their sales campaigns. Start with their advertisements and circulars. Your objective is to find the best sale price for every item on your list, with no exceptions! The easiest way to compare prices is to set up your shopping list in columns, one for each store. If you have a computer with the Microsoft Excel spreadsheet program, use it to prepare your shopping list and sale-price comparisons. Now, start working your way through the advertisements and circulars, filling in sale prices on your list.
Basic displays
Because space is usually limited, supermarket displays of school supplies usually feature basics such as composition notebooks, binders, filler paper and pens. While the selection may only be adequate for early grades, the prices, like BIC Round Stick Pens, 10-count for 99-cents at Publix are usually competitive with other retailers.
Like supermarkets, the chain drug stores have limited selections of school supplies, but they want a piece of your back-to-school business and you will find some bargains. Eckerd is offering "Buy One-Get One Free" on filler paper, glue sticks and other items. Walgreens has 130-count filler paper, 2 for 99-cents. Walgreens also helps shoppers take advantage of rebate offers. A Mead 5-subject notebook is $1.50, free with the $1.50 rebate. Target is using school supplies to attract shoppers. I was impressed with deals like 70-page composition notebooks, 10 for $1 and glue-sticks, 6-count for 99-cents. Target has a program that contributes money to schools based on customer purchases. Check at the store or at Target.com for details.
School staples
Staples also wants your school supplies business. It had the lowest price I found for Crayola Crayons 24-count, just 19-cents. At Staples, if you purchase a Texas Instruments scientific calculator for $9.94 you are entitled to a full purchase price $5.98 mail-in rebate for a 4-pack of uni-ball pens. When I went shopping, Staples had a spectacular offer on a 17-inch Envision computer monitor, only $79 after $70 in rebates.
The best price I found on a zippered three-ring binder was $3.77 at Wal-Mart. Paper-mate ballpoint pen 20-count packs are 46 cents. Wal-Mart has student desks starting at $19.94. It is also offering a Canon S200 bubble jet color printer for $39.86.
The office-supply superstores have the most extensive assortment of school supplies and some good buys on the more expensive items. At OfficeMax an E-3 Works 25-pack of recordable compact discs, is $14.99 (free after the mail-in rebate). A pack of Sanford Uni-Ball pens, $8.99 is free after the rebate. A Brother MFC 5100C color flat bed all-in-one machine (printer, copier, scanner and fax) was on sale and just $149.98 after rebates. An HP 3420 color inkjet printer is $49.98 after a $20 rebate.
At the OfficeMax Web site, www.officemax.com, you will find dozens of rebate offers and you can print out the mail-in forms.
United Feature Syndicate