Knowing When and Where to Shop in 2023

where to shop

It’s no secret that people love to shop and love to coupon. There was even a reality show based on clipping coupons, saving money, and stocking up, called Extreme Couponing. We are fascinated with getting good deals and sharing those deals with others in the US.

If you want to get great deals on everything from clothes to home decor to appliances, you’re in the right place. Follow our guide to know where to shop and when to shop to get the best deals.

When to Shop

Before we get into where to shop, let’s focus on when you should do your shopping, because it does matter. Retailers have sales throughout the year, but how good the sales are varies.

The first thing to know is that sales generally do follow a pattern, so you can predict when things will go on sale. Seasonal sales especially follow the calendar.

When to Buy Clothing

When it comes to fall and winter gear, it will most often go on sale in January after the holidays. Of course, there are always Black Friday sales and the day-after-Christmas markdowns to consider, but early in the new year is a good rule of thumb if you are trying to remember when to shop for reduced fall and winter clothing and other items.

This should also give you the head’s up to make sure you are stocked up on any winter gear that you need before January, as after the holidays, it becomes quite difficult to find things like coats, hats, gloves, and other winter accessories, as stores start filling up with spring clothing.

The best deals on spring and summer clothing can be found in June and July (again, make sure you stock up on summer clothes, as you’ll be seeing more jeans, long-sleeves, and jackets in the store even when it’s still full-blown summer). There will be some deals on spring and summer clothing during Memorial Day and 4th of July sales as well.

For school clothes and school supplies, make sure you shop early, as if you wait too long, everything will be picked over and you’ll miss the best deals.

When to Buy Other Items

Other items may not necessarily follow the calendar and the best times to buy them coincide with when they’ll be clearing out the old models for the new products. Here are some of the best times of year to buy things other than clothing.

  • Appliances: December and January, as new models will be introduced in the spring
  • Electronics: After the holidays and into January
  • Furniture: Labor Day weekend is when retailers start making the biggest cuts to prices
  • Cars: New models start coming out in October, so shop in September or early October, or wait until December (especially between Christmas and New Year’s) as dealers will make one final push to sell more before the end of the year
  • Whites: Bed linens, towels, comforters, etc. typically go on sale after the holidays

Where to Shop

Now that you know when to shop, you need to know where to shop. Local retailers are great, especially if you want to support small businesses. However, they don’t always have the same sales as online stores do and they may have limited sizes in stock.

To find great deals any time of year, sites like Overstock.com that specialize in, you guessed it, overstocked items, are great. Overstock has everything you can think of, from linens to furniture to jewelry to perfume.

Amazon is another place to go for good deals as they are often much cheaper than buying things in a store. You can easily search for the item just by scanning the bar code if you are shopping in person.

You can also price match at many stores, like Target and Walmart, and if you notice that something you bought recently is currently on sale, many stores will give you a price adjustment as long as the purchase was within a certain time frame (for example, Target will adjust prices on anything purchased within the last 14 days if it goes on sale).

Coupons and Promo Codes

If you are looking for larger selections and bigger markdowns, shopping online will often give you the chance to find discount codes and other coupons. Don’t even check out of an online store without Googling for a discount code. Simply search “store name + promo code” or something along those lines to find codes.

At a minimum, you can often get a code for free shipping. You can also sign up for emails and the stores will typically send you an email with a code to use for your first order. Set up a separate email account just for store emails to keep your personal account free of spam.

If you want to make sure you never miss out on a coupon code, there are different apps you can use to shop on your phone or tablet or extensions that you can add to your browser, like Retail Me Not.

You should also sign up for Rakuten, which gives you cash back for shopping at certain retailers online. Simply add the extension to your web browser (or download the app and shop through that). You can earn cash back from hundreds of different retailers.

Other couponing sites like Yes We Coupon also have apps that let you find the best deals for online retail stores and brick and mortar stores.

Save Money Like It’s Your Job

Now that you know where to shop and when to shop, put those skills to the test. Don’t pay full price for anything, find the best deals out there, and save money like a boss.

Check out some of our other tips for how to coupon, what to look for, and how to find glitches that allow you to purchase items for mere pennies.

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