Best Deals for School Supplies

It's that time of year again: With school starting Monday, this Thursday is registration day for many, meaning school supply lists and trips to the store to get students packed and ready for the new school year. 

Patch hit the streets of Norcross to find which stores had the best deals on the usual school items, including protractors, stylish backpacks, colored pencils and notebooks. Although the  beat out most other stores for the lower prices, and smaller stores such as had some steals, too.

Check out the deals here:  

Notebooks: Target has the competition beat with regular black and white composition notebooks for as low as 40 cents. has similar comp books for 50 cents, while and Office Depot has them for $1.

As for spiral notebooks, Kroger takes the win with 15-cent, 70-page notebooks in assorted colors. Office Depot's spirals are $1 for the 70-sheet ones and $2.99 for the bigger quantities. Deals! has 120-page, three-subject spiral notebooks for $1, and 150-page five-subject spirals for $2.  

Folders and portfolios: Target and Kroger both have two-pocket folders for as low as 15 cents, but Target has the better selection and quality. Family Dollar and have two-pockets for 4 for $1, also a steal. Office Depot has all of them price-beaten, though: Its own line of two-pocket folders (with or without tangs) are 5 cents each. 

Crayons, Colored Pencils, Markers: Target, once again, has the other stores beat for not only price, but for quality, too: For Crayola products, Target's prices are 99 cents for a 12-count of colored pencils; 40 cents for a 24 count of crayons; and $1 for the 10 count of markers.

Most Crayola products are $2 at Deals! and $2.50 at Kroger. At Rite Aid, a 10 pack of Crayola markers are $4.49, and even though its Crayola products are buy-one-get-one-free, Target still wins.

As for Family Dollar, their Liqui-Mark 10-pack markers are $2 and $1 for a 12-pack of colored pencils. Office Depot also sells Scholastic-brand drawing products, starting from 69 cents for the 24-pack crayons. 

Bookbags: Walgreens actually has four rows of book bags for $5 and up, but it mostly caters to elementary-sized kids. Family Dollar has $8 backpacks, but the material feels a bit flimsy, plus it, too, looks more appropriate for the younger kids. Deals! has $5 bookbags that are decent-looking that come in a range of colors, but are very plain and only have two compartments.

For quality and range, especially if you have kids on opposite sides of the spectrum when it comes to taste, Target is the best bet: It has $10-and-up bookbags, with brands such as Trans by Jansport or Ink'd Skullcandy for the older kids and those cute movie-themed bookbags kindergarteners love. 

Scissors: For safety scissors, Target has $1 Fiskars-brand ones, while it's $1.99 at Office Depot. Walgreens also has a knock-off for $1.49. For bigger kids, Office Depot has 99-cent Schoolworks pointed scissors--and it comes in a two pack. 

Glue Sticks: Elmer's glue is priced as high at $2.49 at while Target (surprise, surprise) has a six-pack of the same brand's glue sticks for $1. For a smaller package, one bottle of Roseart glue and a two pack of glue sticks are 20 cents at Target. 

TI-83 and TI-84 Calculators: For those fancy graphing calculators, head to Target: The TI-83s are $95.99, the TI-84 Plus is $88 (on sale from $109.99), and the TI-84 Silver is $95 (originally $124.99). Office Depot had some steals on these babies earlier in the week, but now it's back to regular prices for them: $129.99 for the Silver and $99.99 for the TI-83 Plus. 

Lunchboxes: They may be on the smaller side, but the $3 lunchboxes at Target are cute as a button. Family Dollar and Office Depot have some for $6, not to mention Office Depot has a deal going on, too: Buy $15 worth of merchandise and customers get a free bookbag and lunchbox for free (while supplies last, and worth $19.99). 

Protractors: Office Depot outshines Target on this one: While the protractors are $1 and up at Target, Office Depot's own brand of the thingamajigs are only 5 cents. 

Three-Ring Binders: Office Depot may have the widest selection of binders, but nothing beats Target's binders that are as low as $1 for the 1-inch binders in white. The two stores have their share of unique and colorful designs, which range from $2.50 and up for both stores. For those who want the fancy zip-up binders, Target also has the hottest deals from $7 upward. Family Dollar has $2 1-inch binders and Deals! has $1 1-inchers. 

Pens and Pencils: Office Depot has some deals to watch out for. Its Papermate gel pens are $2, a 72-pack of pencils is $3, it's $1 for a 5-pack of Papermate mechanical pencils, and erasable pens are just $1. Target has a wide variety of pens and pencils, too, with wooden pencils priced from $1 and mechanical ones from $1.19.

Family Dollar and Deals have most pens and pencils for $1 and $2 (including a 20-count pencil set for $1), but it's mostly no-name brands. Pencils are also buy one, get one half off at Rite Aid.