How You Can Save Even More Money During Your State’s Tax Holiday

August has rolled around and with August comes back to school, back to school sales, and state Sales Tax Holiday.

This weekend is Florida's sales tax holiday and a big back-to-school shopping weekend and there are a few items I’m planning to buy.

Now you're probably wondering why I’m shopping during a back-to-school shopping weekend and sharing this when I have no kids and I'm not in school. The reason is this. Sales Tax Holidays are a great way to save money on items you need or were planning to buy anyway.

(This information is not meant to be financial advice and is just for educational purposes. This post may include affiliate links. Should you click an affiliate link and make a purchase I may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you.)

When I lived in North Carolina, pretty much every year since I graduated high school, with the exception of two, I've been taking part in my state’s Sales Tax Holiday.

The thing some people don’t realize is you don't have to have kids or be a student yourself to be able to take part. Everyone can benefit and save money.

To help you save, I’ve plotted out the ways you can make sure your dollar goes even further when shopping your state’s Sales Tax Holiday.

Step 1. Get the details on your state’s sales tax holiday

First things first, you’ll want to check to make sure your state has a sales tax holiday. Dates and times vary state by state though there are some weekends where several sales tax holidays fall.

Here’s a nifty little link where you can find info on all the states having a sales tax holiday this year.

Step 2. Confirm what items are eligible

If your state does have a sales tax holiday, you’ll want to confirm the items are eligible. As well as any dollar amount caps. For example, in Florida, personal computers are eligible, but only up to $1000. Limitations and restrictions will vary by state.

When North Carolina had their sales tax holiday they had several eligible items on the list. Florida has a lot fewer items on the list so I have fewer items that I plan to buy. This leads me to step three

Step 3. Decide what you want to buy

Now that you know what’s exempt and not exempt from sales tax, it’s time to create your list of the items you want to buy.

Typically my list consists of any office products I want to stock up on such as copy paper or printer cartridges. I also include clothing items if there’s anything I need to replace or has been on my wishlist and can afford.

Step 4. Decide where and how you want to shop

After creating my shopping list, I then plan out where I’m going to shop. At which store will I buy each item? Many times this is driven by who has the best deal.

Will I buy some or all of my items online or go to the store? Sometimes items are only available online or you may get the best deal by going to the store.

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Step 5. Find additional ways to save

Once you’ve figured out what you’re buying, from where, and how, looking for additional ways to save money should be your next step.

I like to do most of my shopping online, probably because I don’t like to shop or go to the store. So I shop using Rakuten because I can get cashback on several of my purchases making the no sales tax deal even sweeter.

If you're good at paying off your credit card, there are some reward apps that let you link your credit card to them and when you make an eligible purchase you can get rewards points. One of those apps is Shopkick. Several of the stores in the Shopkick app give you Kicks (Shopkick version of reward points) for purchases you make with the linked card. Then you can redeem the kicks for gift cards. So it's like getting cash back!

Another way to save more with your credit card is if it's a cashback credit card, use that to make your purchase and earn some additional cashback.

Other ways to save include using reward apps like Ibotta or searching online for coupons or discount codes.

This year, I plan to stack my savings using a mix of Rakuten cashback, my credit card cashback, Shopkick, and gift cards I've earned through reward apps for each purchase.

Step 6. Go shopping!

Have fun, be safe, and don’t spend too much. 

 Are you doing any sales tax-free shopping this year?