Although summer is just about over, parents can look forward to one more short vacation before sending children back to school later this month.

The annual back-to-school sales tax holiday is coming up this weekend from Aug. 3 at 12:01 a.m. to Aug. 5 at midnight, so parents can at least catch a break and save some money.

Most local municipalities, including Alabaster, Calera, Chelsea, Columbiana, Hoover, Montevallo, Pelham, Westover and Wilsonville, will participate in the holiday. Shelby County will also participate.

That means you can save money on back-to-school shopping and gas this weekend by staying in the county to hit the stores, which will help pump up our local economy. After all, while you’re buying school supplies, you’ll probably purchase a few things that aren’t covered under the sales tax holiday.

This holiday isn’t just for parents, however. Feel free to benefit, even if you don’t have school-age children or grandchildren.

If you’ve been hoping to buy a new computer or computer supplies for your home office, you should consider making that purchase this weekend and cashing in on the savings. You can also save money on clothes, books, art supplies and other necessities.

Items exempt include: clothing with a price of $100 or less per item; computers, computer software and computer supplies with a single purchase sales price of $750 or less; school supplies with a price of $50 or less per item, including art supplies and instructional materials; and books with a sales price of $30 or less per book.

This holiday might not be quite as nice as heading to the beach, but you might be able to save a little bit for next year’s beach trip.

For more information, visit Revenue.alabama.gov/salestax/salestaxhol.htm.

The We Say is the opinion of the Shelby County Reporter editorial board.