It's finally time to head back to school. Some of us still have a few weeks, but it's still time to get shopping for all the stuff you need. Shopping = $$$ and that sucks because isn't tuition enough? It should be, but I'm going to tell you how easy it is to save money when shopping for the back to school load.

First of all, there is no shame in shopping at Wal*Mart for stuff. Okay, clothes may not be the best, but they have all the same pens and paper and stuff as Target and all those. Plus they have cheaper appliances that will still work and such.

Example: I bought a crock pot, a coffee pot, and a toaster for around $8 each plus 16 tupperwear containers for $4. Of all the school supplies I bought today, my allergy medication was the most expensive. So what if it's not all name brand?

Next up, be a coupon-er. We all made/make fun of those that clip coupons and love to laugh at the extreme couponing on TV, but hey, coupons can save big bucks. Plus there are coupons all over the internet anyway so it's not even that hard to save money.

Example: Bath and Body Works. Aka the girl's go to smell store. Aka the most expensive smell good stuff. But, guys, they love coupons. Why else would they give you a new coupon with every purchase? A bottle of one of their "signature scents" is $14. Sure, it lasts like forever, but still. I walked in with a 20% off coupon, two free "fun sized" items and $8 off a signature scent. $11 later I got a new scent, two bag-sized lotions, a new hand sanitizer holder and 6 new sanitizers.

The list continues with taking advantage of free stuff. How many times do you go somewhere and they have free pens? Sure, they aren't the cutest and have a logo or something on it, but it's free. Why do you have to have $5 pens when you can get a whole bag for $2 or use free pens. Your essays and notes aren't dependent on the quality of your pens.

Example: I got a pack of multicoloured pens for color coding, but regular black pens I just got some from my mum who has collected them from different stored we've visited.

Okay. Almost done. Thrift shopping! Who cared if your pots and pans and plates don't match? They're like 50 cents each!

Example: I need some pots and pans and utensils to fill in for what I don't already have. I'm headed to my local thrift stores to scrounge some up.

Last thing is to take advantage of sales. Who cared if you got your Nikes from the Nike store or from Kohl's 30-perceny off. Nobody will care if your Vera Wang bag was on clearance 40-percent off.

Example: I literally always shop at Khol's. They always have sales going on and my mum gets 15, 20, or 30-percent off coupons all the time.