It’s back to school time! The National Retail Federation now estimates is will take an average of $634.78 for a family to equip their kids with supplies, clothes and electronics. That is a horrifying number! Here are some great savings to help cut the costs:

At Walmart
** 250+ school supplies on sale for less than $1, including many of the most popular items on your teacher’s list, like Crayola 24-count crayons, black and white composition books and Elmer two-pack glue sticks
** Right now save 40% on select textbooks at walmart.com
** And don’t forget about the store’s price matching policy, which helps you get the best price even if it comes from someplace else

At Target
** Print off coupons for your favorite products here

** From August 13 to 19, Target will invite parents to upload pictures of their kids showing off their unique style on the #KidsGotStyle Facebook app. During that week, Target will create an inspiration gallery, including items and supplies inspired by the photos received. Select guests who participate will be chosen at random to win one of 100 $50 Target gift cards and a grand prize of one $1,000 Target gift card to help cover their back to school needs.

At Staples
** Check staples.com for new deals each week on school supplies
** Now through August 31, 2013 you can buy a savings pass for $10 and save 15% everyday on school supplies purchases. This guarantees you continue to save money when your child comes home from her first week of school with a list of more things she needs. If your family spends the average this year, you’ll save $95.22!

At Your Grocery Store
** Use our coupon center to find and clip coupons to save on your supplies or Find Grocery Coupons program to find specific savings.

What’s are you doing to save more money?

Have you ever been in that situation where you know you could land a better deal but you just aren’t sure if you should ask? Check out the post below and find out some easy ways you could save money just by asking:

Hotel Rooms

Especially last minute! Hotels have a unique problem, if they don’t sell a room on a given night, it is gone. So, they will often discount deeply at the last minute if they have unsold rooms! Try naming your own price at Priceline.com the day of your stay, but be prepared, you can specify the star quality and general location, but can’t pick the specific hotel. However, you can get some great deals this way.

If you must stay at a particular hotel, try calling and asking for a special rate. But get the details or you may end up staying in the living room of a suite without having the bedroom like I did, sleeping on a couch at a great rate! Who knew? (Seriously, this actually happened!)

Anything at a Garage Sale

Very few people having a garage sale expect you to pay the marked price on anything! They may have a sentimental dresser from grandma that they don”t really want to sell and won”t negotiate from that high price, but for most things I”d take the following strategy:

Gather up everything that interests you, add up the prices and go up to the owner and offer 50% to 75% of that total. The more you are buying and the later in the day it is, the more they are likely to take your offer. Chances are that they will counter a little bit higher, but still far below the marked prices.

Remember, at the end of the day, they DON”T want to be carrying that stuff back in their house!

Cars

Most people know you have to negotiate the price of a car, but what”s the best strategy to get the best deal? My strategy is to go to a reputable website like Edmunds.com for the True Market Value or KBB.com and get the Fair Purchase Price. These are averages that customers are actually paying in your area for a given make and model.

Make this the highest price you will pay. Period. Plus, talk to at least two dealers and let them know the prices that the other is offering. They can usually go lower if they have a target to beat.

If you’re buying new, don”t be afraid to go to a lower trim level of a car and add the features you want rather than paying for a higher trim level and paying for features you don”t want. Tell the dealer exactly what you want and let them search other dealers inventory for the car you actually want to buy!

Any Personal Services

Always negotiate prices on yard work, handyman services, house cleaning, anything you are paying to have done at your house. Just don’t be too hard on the teenage babysitter that lives next door!

Seriously, these service providers expect you to negotiate and will usually mark up their prices expecting to come down. You don’t want to be the one that pleasantly surprises them by just paying the first price they offer. Make sure you are very specific as to what services will be performed as it is always more expensive to go back and add work in the middle of a job!

Anytime You are Buying Multiple Items

This may not work at Walmart or Target, but it will work at almost any furniture, electronics (even at Best Buy), jewelry, or similar type store and of course, specialty boutiques. The idea is that the more you buy, the lower the prices will be.

Most of these stores have high enough markups that they can discount significantly AND they will IF you ask! Pick out all the items that you are planning to purchase and ask for their best price, then offer 10% less. Or ask them to throw in all the expensive cords you need to hook that new blu-ray to the new television.

Best Buy has predefined programs where floor reps can add in all items being purchased and the registers will come up with a package price, often a discount of 10% of more. Make sure you get all the extras such as cords, remotes, surge protectors and the like put together before they package it as these extras often will have the highest discounts!

Medical Bills

Hospital stays, physician services outside of normal office visits can kill a family budget and drain saving accounts very quickly. You should know that there are ways to stretch out and reduce the amount of these bills so that you don’t blow your budget and can maintain an emergency fund.

Here’s my strategy: Wait for insurance to pay their part and then wait for the final bill with amount you owe after insurance and only then call and talk to billing department. They almost always can offer a discount for setting up a payment plan if you are making a first payment right away and an even larger discount if you will pay the entire discounted amount right away.

Don’t agree to more than you can afford. And, be sure to call back every few months and try to negotiate it down further. As long as you are making payments on time, they will normally continue to work with you to pay off your bills without killing your budget.

Don’t put these charges on your credit card! Most of the time the payment plans worked out with the medical provider will not be charging interest, but your credit card will!

Hope these tips really encourage you to step out of your comfort zone and ask for better deals. You never know what you might get!

What do you absolutely have to haggle on?

Photo Credit: Getty Images/Blue Jean Images

One of the best ways to save money on food is to put up your own. It is even better if you can grow it yourself. But assuming you live in a small space, with no yard and can’t have your own garden, there are still ways of getting fresh fruit and vegetables for a fraction of the cost of supermarkets.

PickYourOwn.org is a website detailing all of the places you can go to pick your own fruits and vegetables. If you have a small freezer space, then canning is probably the route you will want to take. There are tons of canning guides all over the internet, so google the one specific to the type of food you are trying to can. Some foods require a pressure cookers, others just a straight canning pot. The basics are easy – cook up or boil what you are going to can, put it in jars, and boil it in the canner for the set time.

Putting up your own food will be the most cost effective way to save money and have healthy food in the process. Canning may be very intimidating, but once you try it, you will see it isn’t that bad.

Picking your own food will allow you to see the quality and get an appreciation for “real” food. It is also a great activity to do with children. It gives them an understanding of where their food comes from and what it takes to harvest it. It may also get children excited about a food they don’t really care for (like peas) if they have a chance to pick them.

Ball Jar has a great site which will help you determine the best method for preserving. Check it out and see what it takes.