- Buy by the month. Certain months are known for a deal on certain items. January is known as the month to buy linens. After Christmas you can get deals on most everything. Wait until after Labor Day to buy back to school clothes, wait until July to buy summer clothes and until February to buy winter duds. In June you can buy furniture and mattresses at discounts.
- Buy at specialty stores. Don’t buy bulbs and cleaning supplies at the grocery store but at a discount store. Don’t get milk at a drugstore but in a grocery store; don’t buy cosmetics at the grocery story but in the drugstore. Get motor oil at a discount auto supply store, not at a discount big box store. You see the reasoning! Anything stocked for convenience and not for the store’s main purpose will be more expensive.
- If you’re over fifty , go to the AARP discount retail page to save up to 15 % and maybe qualify for free shipping with participating catalogs when shopping for apparel, home goods, and more.
Since I’ve been unemployed, I have been telling everyone and asking for discounts. I sent flowers to my new boss as a thank you and I got a 20% discount from 1-800-FLOWERS just by asking. My car needed a thermostat and SAAB quoted me $551.00. My friend Mary called a friend of hers who is a mechanic, told him I was unemployed, and he fixed it for $173.00. My bank was charging me a service fee because I no longer had direct deposit so I went to a branch and the customer service person not only waived the fee but put me in a program that accumulates twice as much interest.
Most service companies have leeway to offer discounts — you just need to ask! -Jennifer