Best time of year to shop clearance and shop early!

When is shopping early, smart? Waiting for “after clearance” clearance can produce the absolute lowest price, but settling for what’s left will sacrifice selection, and most likely quality. This is where jumping on Labor Day sales and summer clearance deals on the bigger ticket items for the home, patio furniture, grills, lawn mowers can save you big bucks on great stuff…ditto for back to school clearance items. Apply the same tactic for incoming fall fashion, with new selection of styles (prime color and sizes) fully stocked at Labor Day discounts. Here the savviest online shoppers will snatch up these bargains quickly, taking full advantage of first choice and then stack on additional cash back (there’s always a sale), creating some of the best deals of the year.

September also kicks off the countdown to Black Friday (2 months until early Black Friday deals begin…Yikes!). But that’s a ways off and on the heels of your fantasy draft comes real football, making a deal now on a new HDTV more urgent. With late summer prices on big screen TVs (40”-60”) hovering around the same pricing we saw before the Super Bowl, why wait until the season is half over. The savings will be comparable, as will laptops and smartphones (yo RedZone fanatics). Microsoft Store and Newegg offered spectacular September laptop deals last year, and FatWallet’s Tech Week raises the savings game this year with increased cash back from HP, Dell, T-Mobile, Newegg and other top tech retailers from 9/2-9/8.

Labor Day Deals, Summer Clearance and Final Back to School Deals

Expect multiple weekend sales in excess of 50% off Home & Garden items this time of year with summer “closeout pricing”.

• Outdoor Furniture: (limited choices on patio furniture clearance and back yard accessories at 50% off or better)
• Clothing: (summer clothing and shoes at 50-80% off)
• Sports & Outdoors: (deep discounts on baseball, golf, camping and fishing gear and apparel)
• Grills/Grilling: (Up to 50% off w/2-burner grills under $100)

Last chance for back to school clearance savings:

• Dorm Furniture: (futons, small appliances, bed/bath linens will all be on sale at bigbox stores)
• Tech: (laptops, desktop computers, tablets, smartphones, software)

Tip: Early bird gets the deal, and the pick of the litter, but these Home & Garden deals sell out fast.

Fall Fashion and Autumn Seasonal Sales

Autumn’s new fall fashion trends sales hit their full stride mid-month. Expect deep discounts on jeans and pants, long sleeve tops and coats, shoes and fall sports apparel.

• Clothing: (long sleeve shirts, pants, jeans, sweat shirts)
• Outdoorwear: (jackets, hoodies, work boots, sweats)
• Footwear: (ankle boots, fall casual shoes, clearance running shoes, socks)
• Sportswear: (golf, football, cycling, hunting, fishing)

Tip: Try shopping for fall fashion early during Labor Day sales to nab the biggest selection of styles during store-wide discounts from Levi’s and American Eagle.

Early Holiday Travel Deals and Packages

This is the best time to book in advance for the best choice and lowest package deal savings on your Thanksgiving and Holiday family travel.

• Airfare: (start looking eight weeks out to get a good price and seat)
• Hotels: (stay at business hotels during the holidays for cheap rate rooms and non crowded pools)
• Car Rentals: (look for discounts when bundled with hotel bookings)
• Local Deals: (check Daily Deal sites for travel activity deals)

Tip: Start monitoring prices now – sign up for low price alerts for your holiday destinations and keep tabs on Deal Discussion forum for some of the hottest travel tips and insider tactics for finding the mega savings.