Office Supplies on a Budget -- Savings Experiment

Every office should be well stocked with supplies, but making sure that there are enough writing instruments and notepads for everyone to use can add up. So, how do you get the best deals on office essentials without going over budget?

Our experts took a shopping list of basics and compared their total cost at big box retailers. The list included a carton of copy paper (1 case, 10 reams of paper), a 60-pack of pens, pencils, paper clips, tape, staples, pads of paper, sticky notes, manila folders and letter-size envelopes.

The total cost of the supplies at Kmart were $180.32. Staples and Office Max offered lower prices, with the shopping list totaling $164.17 and $165.77, respectively. However, Walmart came in with the lowest total of $153.16.

If you want to cash in on a better deal, take a look at the price of your copy paper. When compared with Walmart, Office Depot actually had the lowest prices on all of the items except for the paper. So, to maximize your savings, shop for the bulk of your supplies at Office Depot, and get your paper at Walmart.

By doing this, you'll spend just $113.20 on the supplies at Office Depot and $28.97 on paper for a grand total of $142.17. And that's how you can stay on (and maybe even under) budget.