You probably know that there are times when certain items are at their best prices, and times when they are not. Of course, since the things that we buy are so numerous and varied it can be very hard to keep track of what to buy when. One good resource is a book called “Buy Ketchup in May and Fly at Noon” by Mark DiVincenzo. Not only does this book offer valuable money – saving information, it also offers other suggestions for the best times to do certain things and go certain places which can save you time and make your efforts more productive.
For example, right now it is winter. For some of us (like those in the Northeastern United States) who have been sitting around wondering whether any snow would fall before the springtime, that question was answered over the past couple of days with a few inches of the white stuff. If looking at your shovel makes you cringe, lock up your wallet because now is not the time to run out and buy a snowblower. Hopefully you do have a shovel, because if you do not have one and you need one now, you will pay more for it than you would have if you purchased it in the spring. I know, who wants to think about shovels when there are patio sets, grills, and other warm weather essentials coming onto store shelves, but if you are serious about saving money then you’ll pick up a shovel or three in April or May and let it sit in the garage until next winter.
January is also a bad time to buy other things, too. Stores may be heavily advertising linens and white sales, but this does not mean that the prices are as good as they can get. If you can, hold out until June. For some reason, the sales on linens are better then. If buying a new car was on your to – do list, hopefully you took care of that before the end of the year. Annual quotas are very important to car dealerships and the later in the year you buy, the more likely they are to be willing to make a deal to move those wheels off of their lot and into your driveway. Finally, if you did not get that laptop that you wanted for Christmas, now is not the time to go out and buy one. If the one that you have still works, hold out until August and September for back to school discounts on computers – hey, no one ever said that you had to be a student to take advantage of the back to school sales.
Photo by mensatic on morguefile.com.