Back to school on a budget. Image: iStock
As the new year slowly heads into second gear, with planning and prepping for a new school year well under way, parents are shopping on a budget now more than ever.
Apart from two tough financial years, January also comes as a month of scarce reserves. Hence, here are some handy back-to-school specials that you should know about.
Whether it’s primary or secondary school, or even varsity that your child is heading back to, Game has got game when it comes to getting you sorted.
Most of their stationary supplies are available at lower prices at the moment. They are also said to have the cheapest basket of stationary available in South Africa, including pens, pencils, markers and more.
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Laptops and tablets have also become a must-have for school goers these days. Find your favourites at rather affordable prices at Game with Lenovo tablets coming in at R1599 and Mecer laptops from R3999 (saving you at least R500 if you shop now).
Pick ’n Pay currently has some great specials on some of their printers, which might come in handy for those must-print projects at school. You can also save up to 40% on their electronic screen cleaning sets, as well as powerbanks for those upcoming loadshedding days.
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Kicking off the new school year with a new bag always has a way of giving a kid a boost.
Makro has taken things to a whole new level, with a clever backpack combo that includes a backpack with a matching pencil bag, BPA free water bottle, and lunch cooler – everything your child might need in one for R299.
Game has got some pretty impressive backpack options to choose from too, whether it’s a Frozen-themed backpack for a pre-schooler, or a larger backpack or trolley bag for teens.
PEP’s bags come in at a very low price, with a large school backpack costing around R70 and a large division backpack costing a mere R160.
Moms, here’s a hint. Make packing the kids’ school snacks easier and more fun by buying practical water bottles and lunch boxes this year.
Game’s got an array of bottles and lunch boxes available at very competitive prices and deals, from R15 per lunch box. You can even stock up on some groceries with six-pack water bottles at R50 per pack and brilliant breaktime snack discounts like R23 for two loaves of bread and R55 for two packets of Melrose Cheese Wedges.
Woolworths’ snack specials are also worth looking at, keeping in mind that the specials end on 9 January. Their smooth flavoured yoghurt snack packs are available at R34 for two at the moment, while you can buy three pretzel snack packs for R60, ultimately saving you almost R20.
Pick ’n Pay currently also has great specials, especially on their Ceres juice 200ml packs.
You can also buy small biltong packs at good prices – a healthy and filling snack for both school boys and girls – and you can save up to R10 by buying Bakers Mini Cheddars’ six packs.
There are rather smart prices on Pick ’n Pay’s Jumpin Jack Popcorn four packs and Jungle energy bars too and you can even get Vitality points and save that way with the grocery store’s PnP Live Well range, including cashews, almonds and more.
Although one would have wished to have it otherwise, 2022 still requires school children to wear their Covid-19 masks. Keep an eye out for mask specials on Takealot. They currently have a variety of masks available, with a pack of ten reusable neoprene masks from Rubar Projects that cost 43% less than usual at the moment.
Dis-Chem also sells kiddies masks.
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