Saving on Back to School Clothes with Walmart

Back to school has been a whirlwind of shopping, school lunches, sports try-outs and practices and chaos.  I think things are finally starting to get into a groove with my kids. Homework has started coming home which is a good sign the classrooms are well into routine as well.  With my girls in grades 6 and 7 this year it’s a little more of a challenge to get everything on their list of school requests on a budget.  You may have seen me tweeting Instagram pictures through my shopping challenge last month and chatting about the challenge on August 22nd. When I was offered the opportunity to take the #WalmartFrugalHeroes challenge to outfit 2 kids for back to school under $100 I jumped at the chance to prove to my girls that their style did not have to compromised on a budget. Now that my back to school rush has simmered, I wanted to share with you exactly how I crushed this challenge.

We went into the local Walmart with a strict $100 budget in mind. I had a goal, at least 2 outfits each for the girls but aiming for 3. Remembering similar tactics I had used on my last #WalmartFrugalHeroes Summer Challenge, we went directly towards the sale racks but immediately noticed several regular priced racks at sale prices. As different as my girls are in personality, they are even more different with their shopping choices.  Miss Priss is all about a strict budget and starts shopping by visual pricing where Squeakers is more fashion first, prices later.  As I’m pulling fashion pieces based on price first, cute-factor second, Squeakers pulls this cute little faux leather jacket. Super cute and not a bad price at $25 for a jacket but it would eat up too much of our budget to achieve our goal this trip.

Moving along to the shoe isle for some complimentary footwear to complete the look, Miss Priss made her way to the clearance section. After several selections and a lot of time trying on cute shoes, these two fashionistas ended with once pair of back to school flats and a pair of kitten heel sandals for an upcoming wedding. I didn’t plan on the heels but shopping is all about compromise when you have kids tagging along and at $5; considering the heels weren’t for back to school, I purchased this item separately.

Well I have to say Baby Girl was a pretty good sport about all the shopping we did for her sisters but this picture sums up the point we decided it was time to wrap it up. Regardless of how happy she looks, she came out on top when I discovered a colouring set that miraculously appeared in the cart at checkout. Well played toddler, well played.

I figured my little shopper had been extra patient; with a pitstop at the golden arches we made our way home with our purchases and a mini fashion shoot.

Squeakers Choices from the Girls Section

Miss Priss Back to School Looks from the Ladies Section

6 looks for under $100, not too shabby. We could have kept shopping but I was determined to stick to my budget this time, much to the disappointment of the girls but in the end they were happy with their choices and we all had fun spending quality time together.

11 pieces for $98.95, under budget; I call that a shopping success. #WalmartFrugalHeroes back to school challenge accepted and conquered! To see what other bloggers took the challenge and conquered, follow the #WalmartFrugalHeroes or #DefiWalmart hashtags on Twitter.