TAMPA, Fla. — Florida’s Back-to-School Sales Tax Holiday is underway, and families are already making it count.
Stores were busy with families buying supplies as they prepared to have their kids go back to school.
WATCH: Shopping lists out, tax savings on: Florida’s Back-to-School Holiday draws crowds
"We came to do some back-to-school shopping," said Amy Armstrong, a parent at Target.
For the first time in Florida, this sales tax holiday is going from a few days to the entire month of August.
Governor Ron DeSantis talked about it this week, saying he hopes Florida families take advantage of this.
"Make sure that you get the most out of it," said DeSantis. "We know there is a lot of stuff that goes into kids going back to school, and I think it’ll save a lot of families a lot of money."
The holiday goes towards supplies like notebooks and pens, clothing and backpacks, learning aids like puzzles and flash cards, and technological devices like computers and flash drives.
At a Target in Tampa, the headphones were one of the first to go, leaving empty shelves behind.
"This is the list of school supplies - we brought the list," said Sunita Ghital, a parent to two 2nd graders.
She said they went shopping at Target to buy their last few items.
"Crayons, erasers, the particular one, and wipes," said Ghital.
Meanwhile, some other shoppers were just getting started, like Francisco Bravo, an incoming 7th grader.
He said he found what he was looking for, but had to hold off for now because it was too much money.
"We ended up not getting it, and it was a back pack," said Bravo. "Because of the price - the price was really expensive."
Bravo's family said they are happy to save money wherever possible, so the tax-free holiday is a good place to start.
"This will definitely help save some money for sure," said Josh Palm, Bravo's family. The prices are pretty high, so if we can save some by avoiding some taxes, I guess we should try and take advantage of that."
Amy Armstrong and her daughter, Molly, went shopping this weekend because of the holiday.
"It's always nice to save money," said Armstrong.
"We found a bunch of school clothes and mostly food," said Molly.
Molly said she is excited to go back to school and learn math.
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