Jaci Rae is known as The Queen of More Green. She is the author of several books including this week's Bestseller at Amazon 5 Meals For $5. Other books she's written: Shop For a Day With Jaci Rae, How To Get Almost Anything For Free, and Winning Points With The Woman in Your Life One Touchdown at a Time. Jaci Rae, who was raised in poverty and knows the value of a dollar, can show you that it doesn't have to be a struggle. Recently Jaci Rae went on a shopping spree and filled an entire truck, inside and out for under $400. Jaci is currently working on a Ph.D.

When it's just about time for the kids to head back to school, but you're short on cash after all of the summer activities, what can you do? Head to the 'Back to School' days at your local stores of course.

Many stores (in fact most) have some of the largest sales during back to school time (July – October so it’s also a great time to get that Christmas shopping out of the way!)  These sales can lead to massive savings.

As an example, Mervyn's begins the third week in July and runs through August. Additionally, Mervyn's works with a selected charity to help provide free clothes and other school items to underprivileged children.

If you know a child who would benefit from this program, please contact your local Mervyn's in April at the very latest to find out how you can get a child enrolled in the program.

Savings at many stores is not all about the kids. Teachers can save as well. Staples and Office Depot have special savings programs for teachers who need to buy supplies. To find out more, contact Office Depot http://www.officedepot.com/ and Staples http://www.staples.com/.

You will find an extensive list of stores in my book, Shop for a Day with Jaci Rae – How to Get Almost Anything for Free or Next to It or you can go to the site, www.thequeenofgreen.com to find stores that are in your area and when they have their sales.

Even if you don’t have the money to shop at regular stores, great savings can be found everywhere! Check your local rummage sales for incredible bargains. I have purchased name brand items that still had the tags on them for $0.25 up to $1.75 each. Goodwill and the Salvation Army stores have great items for a fraction of the cost.

Go to websites like freecycle.com and look for bargain basement stores in your area as well as on the net. For Back-to-School supplies, be sure to go to K-Mart, Target and Wal-Mart to name just a few stores.

There you will find bundles of binder paper for 10 for $1 and pens, pencils, backpacks, calculators, erasers and every kind of school supply you can think of for a fraction of the cost. Stock up for the entire year so you won’t have to go shopping during a time that the items you need aren’t so inexpensive.

Target gives a portion back to the community so I always enjoy shopping there. Why not check with your neighbors and do bulk shopping together to split the costs. Help the teachers while you’re at it and buy some supplies for them.

No Money To Go Out? Think Again

Cost Savings On Budget Busters

Update on Sep 9, 2008 by At Basil & Spice

East Bay Business Times Link!