VIDALIA — Louisiana shoppers finishing up their back to school shopping or just picking up some needed items got a little break on Saturday.

Saturday was the final day in a two-day state sales tax holiday. The exemption eliminated the 4 percent state sales tax but did not apply to taxes levied by parishes or cities.

But every little bit helps, Tara Charrier of Monterey said.

Charrier was finishing up shopping for school uniforms for her two children, 11-year-old Tylee Moore and 4-year-old Treyten Charrier, at Hometown Sports in Vidalia.

Tylee will be a sixth-grader when Concordia Parish schools start Monday and Treyten will be in pre-kindergarten.

“I’ve got two in school this year, so it is going to be more expensive this year,” Charrier said. “So this is a good way to save a little bit of money.”

Charrier said it typically costs her over $200 to get her daughter ready for the start of school.

“His won’t be as much, but it is still more than last year,” she said.

Charrier said she still had shoes and school supplies to purchase Saturday.

The tax exemption was good on the first $2,500 of an item and was applicable to items that were placed on layaway or taken out of layaway during the holiday.

However, the exemption did not cover vehicles, meals or cleaning services.

Brandi Kent, of St. Francisville, La., who was shopping for shoes for her sons Travis Kent, 11, and Joshua Kent, 7, said she wasn’t aware of the holiday when she left the house Saturday.

But luckily she made a phone call to her father before making any purchases. She had originally planned to shop in Natchez.

“He’s said ‘It’s the Louisiana tax holiday, go over there,” Kent said. “So, we came across the bridge and are getting the shoes here.”

Some local shoppers said while they appreciated the sales tax holiday, they wished it was scheduled earlier in the summer.

Monterey resident Jackie Coco was shopping for a toddler-sized cheerleading outfit for her 3-year-old daughter Lola, but said the sales tax holiday wasn’t her motivation for shopping Saturday.

“We’re getting her an outfit for fan day at LSU,” Coco said. “We would be buying it without the holiday, but it is nice to save a little bit.”

Coco, who also has an older son, said she was finished with school shopping before the weekend.

“By the time I found out about the tax holiday, I had already finished with back-to-school shopping,” she said. “There is no way I could wait this long to do all that shopping with schools starting Monday. I wish the holiday was a little earlier than it is.”

Unlike the Mississippi sales tax holiday that was last weekend, the Louisiana version applies to home items and that is what Lillian Brown of Houston Texas and her mother Lilly Warner of Vidalia were shopping for at Family Dollar on Saturday.

“Whenever I come home to visit we always shop a little,” Brown said. “This time, we’ll do what we always do but I’ll get to take some money back home with me.”

Brown said she wasn’t aware of the holiday before coming into the store — there was a sign advertising the exemption on the door of Family Dollar — but said she would take advantage of the day.

“I like to save money whenever I can,” she said.