Office Max + Kohl's = Back To School Shopping Done! {review} #Kohls101

**Thanks to the PR firm, on behalf of Kohl's, who supplied a gift card to facilitate this review. I wasn't compensated in any other way. In this post I share my thoughts and opinions of the items mentioned. Others may have a different experience or opinion. PS, I'm a bargain hunter and love coupons. Another shopping trip on this budget may not have the same outcome as mine.**

If you had to guess how much you could buy at Kohl's with $300, back to school shopping for 3 kiddos, {clothing and school supplies included}, how much do you think you could get? Did you even know you could grab a bunch of those school supplies at Kohl's {in store}? I had no idea I could grab my Office Max school supplies at Kohl's but I did know that I could stretch $300 a long, long way otherwise. 

I homeschool. Yep, I do. That doesn't make my family exempt from back to school shopping, though. We have a co-op we attend every week and I have my own list of items we need to have in our classroom, according to the curricula we use.  Also, my children are all in need of a few new items to wear this fall.

I will have a 2nd grader, a Kindergartner, and my youngest will be in "tot school".

Would you like to see a peek at my shopping haul? Yes. Four bags came home with me!!!

Let me start with my back to school supplies from Office Max partnering with Kohl's. I was so excited to see a lot of choices for Dry Erase pencils & markers. We use them A LOT at home. I use them for teaching, the kiddos use them for math or writing practice, and my youngest just loves to doodle with them on her own dry erase board. I grabbed a pack of Crayola Dry Erase Colored Pencils, Crayola Dry Erase Markers, and a pack of Expo Dry Erase Markers that are meant just for me. My kiddos used our Crayola Washable Markers until they were all dried out, so I grabbed a new pack of those. I also bought myself a twin pack of scotch tape, a 4 pack of ballpoint pens, & a 5 pack of Sharpie markers in multiple colors. Also? Since my Kindergartner, Eliana, loves to draw, I grabbed her a pack of Crayola Glitter markers. And who can forget the box of Number 2 pencils?

Alex, my 2nd grader will have some work sheets and note-booking to do this year, so He chose 3 colored folders, a notebook, and a composition notebook. I saw a mini notebook in pink that I grabbed to use for notes I need to keep since it won't take up much of my desk top space. 

And my big kids each got a new backpack with their favorite characters on them! Alex chose the Planes: Fire & Rescue backpack while choosing a Frozen backpack for his sister. {You'll spot Eliana's backpack in the photo I took of all her back to school clothes.}

There were many other school supplies in store, all set up nicely in the aisles. They had items for elementary level students up through college. I saw all kinds of art items, pens, markers, pencils, pencil bags, folders, binders, lunch totes, notebooks, and more. If that's not enough? Every single thing was on sale when I was shopping. The associate who was helping me check-out also told me to watch for coupons on school supplies. 

Now, with the rest of the $300, I made sure to get the kiddos some nice and needed things to wear. Below, you'll see the items I bought just for Eliana. I bought a pack of golden toe socks, a pack of underwear, a pair of Hello Kitty shoes, 4 pair of leggings {2 different 2-pack sets}, a short sleeve dress, a 3/4 length sleeve Dollie & Me outfit, 2 long sleeve t-shirts, and 2 short sleeve t-shirts. 

 For my youngest, I found an adorable Little Mermaid outfit, 2 long sleeve shirts {one that matches her big sister} and 2 pair of leggings. It was fun to find her some cute, new things since most of her wardrobe is all things her big sister used to wear.

 Finally, I found Alex {my 2nd grader} a pack of Gold Toe socks, a pack of underwear, 3 new shirts, one pair of khaki pants, 2 pair of jeans, and a pair of Hawk tennis shoes.

Did you add all of that up in your head? That's 42 items on a budget of $300. Now, to be fair, I had a coupon for an additional 20% off my purchase. Always, ALWAYS check online for a coupon before you shop or sign up for them to be sent to your email. My coupon popped up in my in-box the day I had already decided to go shopping.

Another trick? Take your time and shop the clearance racks. My friends, I saw items at insanely low prices on those racks. Alex's 2 pair of jeans were on clearance for $7.80 a piece and I had an extra 20% off on those. Also? The leggings I found for my youngest, Mikayla, were on clearance for $2.50 a piece.

By the end of my shopping trip, I ended up having to pay $17 out of pocket and saving nearly $450. Seriously! I saved way more than I spent and left the store with 42 new items to be used for this upcoming school year. What's more? Because of the amazing Office Max items in store, I didn't have to leave Kohl's and drive to another store for school supplies.

You simply MUST get your hands on a current coupon and get over to Kohl's for your back to school shopping. A beautiful store selling brands you know and trust, and aisles full of the supplies on your shopping lists could be the one-stop shopping trip you can be happy you took!

~Amy