Make the most of back-to-school sales

And she was doing what she could to maximize her savings with her supply list and coupons in hand.

"You have to plan," Barnett says. "I sat down last night and I planned everything out."

Mindi Cherry, (DealPro at Savings.com and blogger at Moms Need to Know whose blog is full of money-saving tips, says Barnett has the right idea.

"First of all you need to make a detailed list of what you need," Cherry says. "Don't just go out willy-nilly shopping."

And while many people think of coupons for grocery shopping, Cherry says right now, you can find them for school supplies as well.

She says, "There are a ton of coupons for school supplies. for your writing instruments, your notebooks, your folders, even things like staplers and white out."

And she adds that Sunday paper coupons are just the beginning.

She explains that you can "stack" coupons with weekly sales, and then with additional savings found on store sites, like Target's new Cartwheel app.

And using the example of Crayola colored pencils that were on sale when we visited the Target, she explains how stacking works.

"They're on sale for $3.44 and it's probably not the only Crayola deal you're going to need," she says. "There's a Target coupon I printed off the web for $2 off your $10 purchase -- that's already a good deal, but then if you pull up the Target app, I can get another 10% off Crayola pencils."

And coupon-stacking works for stock-up items you'll find on sale at this time of year.

Cherry says, "You're going to be packing lunches for your kids for school, there's going to be lots of great deals on your fruit snacks, on your granola bars, your juice boxes, all the kind of things you're going to pack in your children's lunch. You can buy granola bars now and they'll be good until November."

herry adds that making multiple shopping trips, and buying only the items that are on sale each week, can be a bit time-consuming, but that investment in time will pay off in savings.

And one final tip, don't forget to check your local dollar store, or the dollar section wherever you're shopping. You'll find lots of school-supply items there for just a dollar.