Colorado teacher shares advice for her peers about how to save money on classroom school supplies

Every year, teachers are spending money out of their own pocket to fill their classroom. With school starting soon, many teachers are now buying all the supplies they need to stock their classrooms for the upcoming school year. With rising costs, this can also come at a steep cost for educators. A local teacher has some advice on how teachers can save some money when getting their classrooms ready.

According to the National Education Association, teachers spend on average $500 to $850 on school supplies every year.

Some advice to help teachers reduce out-of-pocket spending include: Taking a look at what supplies you have from last year and see if anything can be re-used, making a list of everything you still need and setting a budget for yourself.

Katie Bergman teaches creative writing at Aurora Central High School. She said this school year, she had to buy all new school supplies for her classroom. She first recommends shopping at several different places for supplies to help make supplies more affordable.

"I do find that Walmart, ultimately, will always have the best pricing. Places like Amazon are good, especially if you need bulk supplies. Amazon is going to be great for teachers or for families with many children. You can buy like, say, for example, a big box of highlighters and separate them," said Bergman.

Bergman said while every teacher's spending habits are different, elementary school teachers tend to spend a little more money than middle school or high school teachers because they have detailed plans that require certain supplies. She added that most schools will provide teachers with basic supplies, but they do not supply classroom décor. Bergman recommends going to local thrift stores or consignment shops to shop for furniture and supplies.

"FaceBook Marketplace has been useful, mostly as a teacher, to find inexpensive items for my classroom. So, my goal is always to make the classroom a place where students want to be. So I've been able to find things like comfortable armchairs and rugs and tables and things like that from Marketplace at a really low or free cost," said Bergman.

Bergman said this year, she's even doing a coffee bar for her students, where each student will get their own mug.

"I was able to find over 100 mugs for free on Marketplace, so each student can have their own. And so that will be one of our first week assignments or activities, where students will decorate their mug and they'll have a personalized mug for the year to use," said Bergman.

Bergman also recommends talking with others that work in your school.

"Always talk to your bookkeeper or your secretary at your school to find out what kind of school supplies will be provided to you at your school. You can always talk to veteran teachers in the building to see if there's anything they want to clean out of their classroom," said Bergman.

Teachers can also create a wish list for family and friends to help make things more affordable. Shop the sales throughout the summer months, buy used supplies or even utilize dollar stores. Teachers can also join teacher discount programs.

As for community members, if you're interested in helping a local teacher, you can buy supplies from their Amazon wish list or contact the school or school district directly to make a donation.