Not Made Of Money

I’ve noticed that I mention buying clearance deals a lot, but I don’t always explain where I go to find these great deals. Do I find them in special stores that are only in my neighborhood? Or can you find the same types of clearance sales in your neck of the woods?

Clearance sales aren’t unique to the stores I shop at. You can find them in any city across the country. You just have to know where to look. Here are some of the methods that I use:

Look for stores that get new inventory often. TJ Maxx or Marshall’s, for instance, get new shipments all of the time, so they have to turn their current inventory pretty quickly. If it doesn’t sell, they will start dropping the price to get rid of it.

Head for the back of specialty stores. Almost every store keeps their clearance-priced merchandise at the back of the store. I make it a habit, then, to skip right past the pretty displays in the window and head for the more reasonably-priced stuff hidden in the back.

Learn your department store’s method for displaying clearance items. Target tends to put clearance items on end caps (except clothing), so I always take time to brose the ends of the aisles. Wal-mart stores, on the other hand, tend to have a clearance aisle. I can easily drop through the aisle to look for things that were already on my shopping list. Be sure to check out the clearance sections of your favorite stores often so that you can pick up the items you’ve had your eye on as soon as their prices drop.

Shop clearance sections after major holidays. After Labor Day, you can find tons of summer items on sale. Winter stuff typically starts going on sale after Christmas has passed. By shopping off season, you can get the best buys on the items you need.

Skip new stores for the first month or so. When new stores or shopping areas open, the idea of shopping someplace new can be tempting. The only problem is that those stores haven’t been open long enough to accumulate clearance-priced merchandise.

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