If summer feels like the perfect season to shop, before giving in to all those impulse purchases, make sure you efficiently plan your shopping trips, so you save enough money on these items this summer. The vast majority of people, the minute they hear the word “summer,” start thinking of travel, relaxation, and outdoor adventures, but also of impulse spending.
Between back-to-school shopping, various home upgrades, and vacations, costs can add up pretty fast. But what most consumers fail to acknowledge is that many of those items are never really worth buying at full price. Oh, and retailers know this so well! In fact, these scheduled discounts are strategically placed around this time of the year, even if summer is full of opportunities to save.
Grills and outdoor equipment: wait until summer ends
Even if it’s quite tempting to splurge on a new and super shiny grill as soon as barbecue season starts, it’s also a classic mistake. Nowadays, retailers demand spikes in late spring and early summer, which is also why prices are at their highest.
If you can hold it off for a while, you will see how the best deals are always in August and September, when stores slowly clear out summer inventory to make room for fall products. Well, the same logic applies to patio furniture, lawnmowers, and the most important gardening tools. All those items hit their lowest prices in the off-season, when retailers are quite desperate to make some space.
Summer apparel: Sales are only a few weeks away
Well, yes, those breezy dresses and swim trunks could be calling your name in June, but you should still try to hold it off a bit longer. Some of the best discounts start rolling out in mid to late July, and prices generally drop until Labor Day.
This is even more true for department stores and fast fashion chains, which turn over inventory quite fast. Our recommendation is to shop from online clearance sections on a regular basis and also sign up for retailer newsletters. Exclusive early access and other discounts are often available to email subscribers or even app users.
Air conditioners and fans: buy in the fall
On the same note with heaters being extremely expensive in winter, cooling appliances might mark a price hike in peak summer. If your AC works, even if it’s not ideal, it’s still worth waiting until September or October to upgrade it.
That’s also when retailers slash prices on models they didn’t even sell during the heat wave. If your unit is on its last legs, just try buying during Fourth of July or Labor Day sales, since they can offer better prices than early summer rates.
School supplies and tech gadgets: timing is really everything
Back-to-school deals don’t truly start until late July and peak in August. Buying notebooks, backpacks, and laptops in June also means paying a premium. Instead, you might want to map out what you need right now and monitor the prices over the next few weeks, returning when discounts are advertised.
For other technologies like laptops, tablets, and printers, tax-free weekends in certain states can save you big time. The best thing to do is check your local calendar and see when these weekends fall, since many states host them in early August to help families stock up.
Travel and flights: be strategic, not spontaneous
Summer is also peak travel season, which means airfare and hotel prices increase. Of course, this doesn’t mean you have to settle. Booking flights at full price is nothing but a sign of poor timing and a lack of research. Use fare comparison tools such as Google Flights and Hopper to monitor such trends, setting alerts for your target dates and destinations. Experts advise booking domestic summer flights three to six weeks in advance for the best deals. Flying midweek and avoiding holiday weekends can easily lead to great savings.
Cars: end-of-summer clearance is important
Even if car shopping is probably not the best idea during summertime, many dealerships offer year-end clearance events going all the way back to August, when they make more room for next year’s models. Buying a brand-new and certified pre-owned car in the middle of the summer also means settling for less incentive-heavy deals. The best thing to do is wait until August or September and look for rebates, low-interest financing, and discounted prices on vehicles that are new but technically last year’s model.
Appliances and home goods: look for Holiday sales
Summer holidays are known to be goldmines for discounts on some of those big-ticket items, including Memorial Day, Fourth of July, and Labor Day. Retailers can offer huge deals on refrigerators, washers, dryers, and kitchen appliances. If you somehow missed the Memorial Day window, worry not: Labor Day has better discounts, especially on models the store needs to move.
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