I found my best deals this year while shopping at Macy’s of all places. Usually, Macy’s is an expensive high-end retailer, but this is where I saved up to 80% off of the retail pricing.
I’m not a big clothes shopper, but the savings was so substantial, I got hooked and decided to spend the rest of the day rooting around to see how much more money I could save.
My next stop of the day was at Kohls Department Store.
My initial score was a pair of shorts for an upcoming vacation to someplace much warmer.
So, to make this shopping expedition as scientific as possible, the rest of the day consisted of a hunt for more shorts.
I thought I needed two to three pairs to get me through the end of the year and into next year.
When I first stumbled on the Macy’s clearance shop, I bought a bunch of pairs, but I blew through a bunch between the end of last summer to the beginning of this summer.
I don’t know if the quality was terrible or I’m just hard on clothes.
This is what I found on my little shopping expedition.
Frugal Living Tips; Buy clothes in the opposite season.
First is buying clothes opposite the season. This seems obvious, but I think more people than not need to get revved up for a particular season to go shopping. Or, maybe the shopping for the season is part of the celebration.
It’s like when springtime is on its way, and you’re waiting to break the door off the hinges after being cooped up indoors all winter, all you want to do is get some summer clothes to get ready for the season. Part of getting ready for summer is scheduling an ac repair service for your home.
The best deal I found is to buy summer clothes in August, September, or October. And, buy winter clothes in April, May, or June.
I scored some great deals on pants and shirts this past spring using this method. I went to the store looking for a particular type of jeans last fall. The closeout racks were filled with shorts, but no jeans.
When I went back this spring and found the exact brand and size of pants, I was looking for. Practically falling off the shelves, there were so many.
I’m a full convert to buying offseason now. I do not need to get anything in season at full price again.
Frugal Living Tips; Scour the store.
When I trekked over to Kohl’s, which is slowly becoming my store of choice, I noticed the closeouts were scattered all over the store. At first, I thought maybe I was shopping in different departments, but they had all the same sizes and brands for their closeout things in several different places.
I’m by no means suggesting that if you are searching for men’s jeans you go hang out in Women’s Lingerie. I would, though, not be opposed to exploring the entire men’s department.
When I did my hunt, I found one pair of shorts in my size in one department and two more just like it in another department.
Another thing I noticed was that the price was slightly different between the two. The rack signage was the same, but some shorts were marked down from $50 to around $12, and others were marked down from $55 to approximately $9. It was a huge savings, so it didn’t bother me too much, but I thought it was a little odd.
Just keep looking around for the clearance tags and keep an eye on the price tags.
Frugal Living Tips; Shop at retail store outlets.
The retail outlets are where I got hooked.
But be aware of what the stuff costs at full retail.
I’ve been to some retail outlet stores where the prices seemed to be inflated unreasonably high so they could advertise a massive discount percentage.
I always don’t go by retail pricing on things I feel I got a deal on. The deal many times is in our head rather than what the stores tell us is a good deal.
For instance, I know I would never pay $50 for a pair of shorts. I’d rather walk around on a hot summer day in a pair of underwear rather than get robbed like that for shorts.
I’d be willing to pay in the $20 range though. Since half the pants are missing, they should be half the price of the pants. Sound right?
When I found shorts between $9 and $12, I was ecstatic about the deal. Much of what I am willing to pay is firmly planted in my mind.
Frugal Living Tips; Take advantage of the store club.
All retail stores I know have some shopping club or credit card/mailing list you can get on to get even more significant discounts.
My wife loves getting on these because she doesn’t mind getting the continual sales offers from the retailers.
I’m glad she doesn’t mind because I hate the junk mail. I use her discount percentage to get even better deals.
You need to watch the fine print as to how much you can take off certain items. Sometimes stores restrict the eligibility to the programs if you are already buying on clearance.
Kohl’s is usually really good with this. They will typically extend the sale prices at certain events to everything in the store.
I have seen, though, some retailers do restrict it. Just make sure of the terms of the sale going in, so you don’t end up at the register in complete confusion.
Frugal Living Tips; Don’t be afraid to haggle a little.
My brother-in-law turned me on to Kohls. His family shops there all the time and he is where I got this next tip from.
Did I mention he is a used car salesman?
Yep, you guessed it. He loves to haggle.
It gets to the point sometimes where I squirm when I’m around him, and he’s working a store clerk over for even a deeper discount.
But, you know, it works most of the time.
If he’s shopping with expired coupons or store restrictions on certain items, he’s almost guaranteed to walk out of there with the better deal. It gets to the point where he’ll even get management involved for the discount if the clerk won’t bend.
My wife has a little of the salesman gene, but he’s a pro.
I watched him work over a clerk on an expired coupon one time until they honored it.
If you have the knack for it, this may be a good way of getting a couple of extra bucks off at the register.
I was never a big clothes-shopping fan until I got hooked on these hacks. Now, for me, it’s like a game.
I don’t ever buy what I don’t need just because it’s on sale.
But, when I’m in the market for some new duds, I’m all about the hunt.
Till next time, be safe.
Kevin