Bankrate’s Guide to Sales by Month

Bankrate has a great article that details a generally understood concept by frugal shoppers. The article is title “Month-by-month guide for finding sales” (written by Laura Shanahan) and basically lists what items are typically on sale in which months, so you can plan your shopping accordingly. This is more specific than the classic “Buy winter clothes at the end of the winter season” or “Buy summer clothes at the end of summer.” Below I’ll just list the months and the bullet points she outlines in her article. I’ve omitted some of the strange sales that didn’t make sense to me.
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January

• “White sale” items — sheets, pillowcases and other bedding accessories
• Computers
• Workout and sports gear
• Winter apparel - coats, gloves, etc.
• Televisions - as retailers gear up for the Super Bowl…

February - Driven by Valentine’s Day and Presidents’ Day sales.

• Jewelry
• Chocolates
• Fragrance, toiletries
• Resort and cruise apparel
• Furniture and housewares

March - Start of Spring

• Windbreakers, Raincoats

- prepare for April Showers!

• Gardening Tools
• Luggage
• Frozen Foods

- March is National Frozen Food Month

April - after Easter, Spring cleaning time

• “Spring finery”
• China
• Kosher foods
• Eggs (chocolate and chicken-laid)

- Easter!

• Wallpaper and paint

May - Memorial Day weekend sales

• Appliances
• BBQ and picnic gear
• Pre-season Summer Apparel sales

June

• Summer apparel
• Hardware, home fix-it tools, materials
• Dairy Foods

- June is National Dairy Month!

July

• Deeper discounts on summer apparel
• Air Conditioning

- These sales will last through September

• Appliances

- 4th of July sales!

• BBQ and picnic gear
• Craft supplies

- apparently July is well known as a great time to stock up.

August - The second time stores have “White sales,” school supplies are cheap now right before school starts.

• “White sale” items — sheets, pillowcases and other bedding accessories
• Outdoor furniture
• School supplise
• Pre-season sales on Fall Apparel
• Summer apparel clearances

September

• Homes

- Hrm… interesting.

• Deeper school supplies sales
• Canned goods

October - Halloween!

• Candy
• Cars

- End of the month as salespeople seek to meet quotas.

• Outdoor sports equipment

- with Winter looming…

November - Thanksgiving is here! Time to fatten up. Also remember Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving.

• Fall apparel clearances, winter markdowns
• Blankets, comforters

- starting to get cold…

• Thanksgiving fixings

December - Almost everything giftable or eatable is on sale.

This guide was especially helpful for someone like myself, who doesn’t really know the best time to buy sheets or comforters, so I hope it’s useful for you too.