Back to School Shopping Tips - OfficeMax Sale & Max Perks

As I write this, school supplies are flooding in and out of stores. It is that time again. August is just around the corner and you are faced with the list. This is also the best time to start tackling your list since bulk inventory usually means discounts for you. So where should you go? I like to take it slowly and end up saving the most money like that. While supplies are not the most expensive things on your list, buying everything at once usually means that you probably lost a great deal!

This hub, however, is not just about school supplies. It is about getting the best price for office supplies all year round as well. So I would like to introduce you to Office Max and share with you how to get the most for your money there.

To begin, you are going to need to sign up for the MaxPerks card. MaxPerks is their rewards program and has a lot of potential for you. Signing up is a 2 part process. First, you fill out the form in person at the store and get your card. You can start earning rewards right away, but you will have to take a follow up step online to set up the rest of your profile, or I believe you can do the entire thing online, but you won't have your card in hand right away. The MaxPerks program works a little differently in that your rewards are not ready for use immediately. At first, this may seem like a negative. There are already many money savers out there who have become experts at rolling rewards, but this is not a negative thing. The rewards that you earn today will be available for use the next month. Unlike many other reward programs you will have several months up to a year to use them depending on location. If you think about it that is perfect! It gives you time to need something like printer paper or office furniture.

There are several ways to earn points on your rewards card. Office Max offers weekly circulars in most sunday papers or available online. Look there for great school supply time deals. For example, I was able to get 200 sheets of filler paper for 2 cents. In these circulars you will see select items that offer rewards points. I was able to get 2 reams of printer paper for 2 cents, and another one for $1 this way. In my first example, the filler paper really cost me 2 cents on the date of purchase. My printer paper cost me $5.99 and gave me $5.98 back in rewards. I did that twice since the limit was 2. On another visit the printer paper was $6.99, which is what I paid but they gave me back $5.99 in rewards on my card. I only did that once although it had a limit of 2. In that same ad, they offered a box of printer paper for $40ish, but the reward they offered back made it about $14. Not bad, but I didn't need it right now. This is the most common way of earning rewards.
Families or business who purchase $500 worth of products within a year receive $25 in rewards.

This one gets its own paragraph because I think that it is the best part. If you have read some of my hubs before, than you know that recycling is a big deal for me. I am a green crusader, but I do aspire to be as green as I can conveniently be. Office Max has a program that allows me to do that and save money. They offer a recycling program for your empty ink cartridges! In addition to that, they give you $3 in rewards for each cartridge recycled up to $60 per month! The ink cartridges have to meet certain conditions, but this is amazing! Especially if you have a business or church. You are earning supply money for nothing AND you are recycling!

In addition to the sales that I mentioned above, occasionally, Office Max will have a bag sale. They will have a paper bag which acts as a coupon and everything that you can fit in that bag gets discounted as stated on the bag. So, if the bag states that you get 15% off, and you stuffed everything in the bag and made it weigh a ton, every single item in their gets discounted. Now, Imagine if you had that plus a few MaxPerks rewards ready to use...

So here is my back to school shopping tip, price out your options. You can do a lot better than what Wally world has to offer. The more you save on this stuff, the more you have to work on the clothes/uniforms...

Many Blessings & Thanks for reading!

For more money saving techniques check out my couponing hubs which feature
Walgreens
CVS
Publix
and more...