Office Max and Staples are both offering good deals this week on office suppies -- some as cheap as a penny after rewards.

At Office Max, 12-packs of legal pads, 12-packs of Post-It Notes, binders and 10-packs of storage boxes are all a penny each after MaxPerk Bonus Rewards, which means you do have to lay out the cash in advance. Office Max issues the rewards in the form of store credit.

Get more details and join the MaxPerks Rewards program HERE.

Over at Staples, take note of the coupon for $10 off a $75 in-store purchase in Sunday's circular. It's valid through Saturday, May 26. The coupon excludes HP and Epson ink and toner, copy services, gift cards and postage stamps.

All three office-supply stores are offering penny deals this week in an effort to get you in their doors to spend what's left of your back-to-school budgets. Here's a store-by-store breakdown of the very best deals on supplies typically on students' lists.

The back-to-school sales remain in full swing this week with tons of deals on school supplies, including some penny deals. Read on for a store-by-store breakdown of the very best deals.

In today's N&O, Office Max is advertising 10-packs of Bic pens for 50 cents during this weekend's upcoming tax holiday.

Pair that sale with the $1/2 coupon from the 7/31 Smart Source coupon insert and you walk out with 20 pens for FREE.

And since the sale is during tax-free weekend, you won't even have to pay the two pennies in tax.

Who can resist a 1-cent sale? That's what the back-to-school retailers are hoping.

It makes for smart marketing, but not necessarily smart shopping. So be careful out there and read the fine print.

Here are my favorite school-supplies deals for the week with the fine print in bold to help you out:

Do your homework before heading out to buy school supplies.

The big sales have begun, but similar to last week, there's lots of fine print to read.

Some of the deals, such as those at Office Max this week, require a minimum $5 purchase. Some involve rebates. Most of the good deals also have limits and are only good while supplies last. So beware.

Here are the best deals I saw:

Last week, it was 10-cent glue sticks and 20-cent crayons.

Starting today, it's computer paper for a penny! And Sharpie markers for FREE.

It may still be early July on the calendar, but for retailers, the back-to-school sales blitz has begun in earnest.