5 , Ways to Cut Costs During, Back-to-School Shopping.br According to the National Retailbr Federation, parents spend an annualbr average of almost $700 on school supplies.br Here are five cost-cutting tips br to help you save money on br back-to-school shopping.br 1. Round Up the Supplies You Have, Before you go out and buy all new materials, take stock br of what your kids still have from last year’s supplies.br 2. Visit the Local Dollar Store, When it comes to basic supplies such as pens,br paper and notebooks, the Dollar Store oftenbr offers these items for significantly lower prices.br 3. Deal Hunt for Big-Ticket Items, Coupon searching can be time consuming,br so try to focus your efforts on the morebr expensive items you’ll need to purchase.br 4. Only Buy What You Need, Most stores mark up their prices during back-to-schoolbr time, so if there are supplies you don’t immediatelybr need, wait until after school starts to purchase them.br 5.