Sales tax free weekend
Now a permanent "holiday" in Ohio, Ohio's sales tax free event occurred over the weekend. We took advantage of it by shopping and then basically spending the amount we would have spent on taxes. However, at least we got something for that which we otherwise would have given to the state of Ohio.
The sales tax free holiday started at Friday at 12:00 am so the girls and I decided to get some online shopping done in the early hours of Friday. We had our eyes on some sale items at one of our favorite stores. Since sale items tend to sell out quicker than non sale items, we wanted to increase our chances of being able to get the items and get them tax free. We ended up having problems ordering online early Friday morning. We went to bed and when I woke up on Friday, I was able to complete our online shopping and get the items that we wanted sales tax free.
Then it was time for back to school shopping at brick and mortar stores. We first hit up TJ Maxx- we like their very reasonably priced athletic/ workout selection and we had no trouble replenishing our running/ dance/ athleisure wardrobes. Then it was to our local, nearest shopping mall. It appears to be dying a sure, albeit fortunately, slow death- hopefully the anchors that remain will still be around for a few years. We like the H&M store there and the girls like the store Pink. We shopped at those two stores for a while, had a snack, and then went to a couple of other stores at the mall but didn't buy anything else. We left the mall, went to Kohl's for their good selection of jeans and called it a shopping day. We had lunch out before we arrived home. And... there went our tax savings. Yes, we spent it on lunch. But, at least we got lunch out of it.
On Saturday, we hit up Wal-Mart for back to school supplies and basics like socks. Had a less than stellar Wal-Mart shopping experience but... only paid $3 of taxes on $160 worth of items (only clothing and school supplies under certain dollar amounts are tax free- everything else you buy is taxed) so I guess it was worth it 😂.
Abby had mentioned that she looked at Nordstrom Rack's website and found some shoes that she liked. I forgot about it until 10:00 pm Sunday night. I'd gone out to dinner with a couple of friends and didn't get home until 10:00 pm. I suggested we place the order (and found something for me before doing so) before we'd have to pay $12 in taxes if we waited two hours.
A tangential benefit of the sales tax free weekend is that the "T" word comes up in our conversations with the kids. We get to share our views on taxation and the role that we believe the government should play in our lives. We talk politics plenty with the kids outside of the sales tax free weekend- they know our views on all of the pertinent political issues- but the sales tax free weekend is a time when the subject of taxation affects them directly (in a good way for once!) and is more overtly discussed in advertisements, the local media, etc. and of course, by us to them. The words, "sales tax" were not ones that the kids had ever paid two cents to (no pun intended) before Ohio began the sales tax free weekend about five years ago. I mean, they knew sales tax existed but the existence (or temporary non existence) of a sales tax was not a subject about which we'd had much discussion and had never really impacted them. Saving money + civics conversations with the kids = YESSSSS!
Here are the stores from which we bought items this year sales tax free:
Online- Nordstrom Rack, Nordstrom, Macy's
Brick and mortar stores- TJ Maxx, Kohl's, VS Pink, H&M, Wal-Mart
We don't go to our local mall often but when we do, there's a good chance we don't pass up Auntie Anne's pretzels. If I happen to have a BOGO coupon, which I did over the weekend, it's a given that we're going to eat pretzel or pretzel bites (whichever the coupon is for, lol).
Our shopping bags secure in the trunk... along with the shiny penny that Alyssa found on the ground near our car.
Those pretzels bits provided a pick me up but we needed lunch after all that shopping. And with tax savings burning a hole in my credit card, well, here's where the savings went...
Our lovely bags!!
Of course stores vied for our potential tax free savings. Got this email from VV letting me know about the sales tax free weekend. Only clothing items priced $75.00 or less qualify for the sales tax free event. Probably only 40% of VV's items are under $75, but, assuming you found something for less than $75, you'd pay no sales tax.
The sales tax free holiday started at Friday at 12:00 am so the girls and I decided to get some online shopping done in the early hours of Friday. We had our eyes on some sale items at one of our favorite stores. Since sale items tend to sell out quicker than non sale items, we wanted to increase our chances of being able to get the items and get them tax free. We ended up having problems ordering online early Friday morning. We went to bed and when I woke up on Friday, I was able to complete our online shopping and get the items that we wanted sales tax free.
Then it was time for back to school shopping at brick and mortar stores. We first hit up TJ Maxx- we like their very reasonably priced athletic/ workout selection and we had no trouble replenishing our running/ dance/ athleisure wardrobes. Then it was to our local, nearest shopping mall. It appears to be dying a sure, albeit fortunately, slow death- hopefully the anchors that remain will still be around for a few years. We like the H&M store there and the girls like the store Pink. We shopped at those two stores for a while, had a snack, and then went to a couple of other stores at the mall but didn't buy anything else. We left the mall, went to Kohl's for their good selection of jeans and called it a shopping day. We had lunch out before we arrived home. And... there went our tax savings. Yes, we spent it on lunch. But, at least we got lunch out of it.
On Saturday, we hit up Wal-Mart for back to school supplies and basics like socks. Had a less than stellar Wal-Mart shopping experience but... only paid $3 of taxes on $160 worth of items (only clothing and school supplies under certain dollar amounts are tax free- everything else you buy is taxed) so I guess it was worth it 😂.
Abby had mentioned that she looked at Nordstrom Rack's website and found some shoes that she liked. I forgot about it until 10:00 pm Sunday night. I'd gone out to dinner with a couple of friends and didn't get home until 10:00 pm. I suggested we place the order (and found something for me before doing so) before we'd have to pay $12 in taxes if we waited two hours.
A tangential benefit of the sales tax free weekend is that the "T" word comes up in our conversations with the kids. We get to share our views on taxation and the role that we believe the government should play in our lives. We talk politics plenty with the kids outside of the sales tax free weekend- they know our views on all of the pertinent political issues- but the sales tax free weekend is a time when the subject of taxation affects them directly (in a good way for once!) and is more overtly discussed in advertisements, the local media, etc. and of course, by us to them. The words, "sales tax" were not ones that the kids had ever paid two cents to (no pun intended) before Ohio began the sales tax free weekend about five years ago. I mean, they knew sales tax existed but the existence (or temporary non existence) of a sales tax was not a subject about which we'd had much discussion and had never really impacted them. Saving money + civics conversations with the kids = YESSSSS!
Here are the stores from which we bought items this year sales tax free:
Online- Nordstrom Rack, Nordstrom, Macy's
Brick and mortar stores- TJ Maxx, Kohl's, VS Pink, H&M, Wal-Mart
We don't go to our local mall often but when we do, there's a good chance we don't pass up Auntie Anne's pretzels. If I happen to have a BOGO coupon, which I did over the weekend, it's a given that we're going to eat pretzel or pretzel bites (whichever the coupon is for, lol).
Our shopping bags secure in the trunk... along with the shiny penny that Alyssa found on the ground near our car.
Those pretzels bits provided a pick me up but we needed lunch after all that shopping. And with tax savings burning a hole in my credit card, well, here's where the savings went...
Of course stores vied for our potential tax free savings. Got this email from VV letting me know about the sales tax free weekend. Only clothing items priced $75.00 or less qualify for the sales tax free event. Probably only 40% of VV's items are under $75, but, assuming you found something for less than $75, you'd pay no sales tax.
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