Month: April 2015

Sales Cycles: When are items on sale?

Abby H.

file0001262541721Sales are cyclical- certain items are on sale during specific times of the year, either due to holidays or special events. For example- Barbeque sauce is on sale in the summer, when people barbeque a lot. Manufacturers and stores will put out coupons and places items on sale to entice shoppers to spend more. Use this to your advantage. Combine sales with coupons and increase your stockpile and plan your menu.

Here are some examples (but not a complete list):

JANUARY

Diet Food and Weight Loss Equipment (New Year’s Resolutions)
Gyms have sales and free trials
Healthy Food including Veggies
Television and other Electronics (Super Bowl Sunday)
OTC Medications (FSA’s expire in Jan./Feb.- Use it or Lose it!)
Winter Clothing and Shoes (Formal clothes are usually 75%+ off)
Organizers (totes, Christmas ornament storage containers)
White Sales (Sheets/Towels)
Snack-y food for Super Bowl parties: chips, dip. Velveeta, salsa, taquitos. There are often times really great rebates for snack food and beer or soda around the Super Bowl.
FEBRUARY

Diet Food and Weight Loss Equipment (New Year’s Resolutions)
Healthy Food including Veggies
Furniture and House wares
Candy and Chocolates

MARCH

March is National frozen food month. Many Stores like Albertson’s have a “fill a bag” sale where you are given a paper or plastic bag and you receive a discount (typically 15-25%) on each frozen item in that bag.
Spring Apparel (Easter Dresses and Suits)
Depending on when Easter falls, look for sales on Easter Dinner food: Ham, Prime Rib, stuffing, veggies, eggs, and Easter Basket Supplies.
Luggage and Travel (Spring Break)
Spring-cleaning sales will start and there will be rebates for cleaning supplies- especially with SC Johnson Products.
Between March 13-17th (St. Patrick’s Day) Corned Beef, Potatoes and Cabbage are all Dirt Cheap. Stock up!
During Lent, seafood is inexpensive.

APRIL

More Spring cleaning sales and rebates
Paper products (plates, napkins) start to have really good sales.
Paint & Wallpaper (In the same vain as spring cleaning, a lot of people start to spruce up their homes in the spring)
Jewish Foods and Eggs (Passover)

MAY

May is the start of picnic season. Barbeque food, Hotdogs, hamburgers, ribs, condiments will all be on sale throughout the summer and will be until September.

Auto Maintenance (tires, oil changes, tune ups)
Beverages, Hot dogs, Ground Beef, BBQ sauce, Ketchup, Mustard, Ribs (Often times there are some really great rebates WYB beer or soda)
Bug repellents – Sprays and Candles
Home Maintenance (carpet cleaning, duct cleaning)
SPF and After Sun products (like Aloe)

JUNE

Summer Clothes
June is National Dairy Month- Dairy Products
Summer Activities (local attractions sometimes have “locals only” days or rates)
Beverages, Hot dogs, Ground Beef, BBQ sauce, Ketchup, Mustard, Ribs (Often times there are some really great rebates WYB beer or soda)

JULY

Air Conditioning units
Summer Sports Equipment & Craft Supplies (things for families to do together)
Beverages, Hot dogs, Ground Beef, BBQ sauce, Ketchup, Mustard, Ribs (Often times there are some really great rebates WYB beer or soda)

AUGUST

BBQ and Patio Equipment (Just in time for Labor Day!)
White Sale – Linens and Towels
Back to School Supplies – Sales may Start in Late July, Depending on when school starts in your part of the world)
Bathing Suits and the last remnants of summer clothes
Back to school clothes
Jackets and light coats for fall
Beverages, Hot dogs, Ground Beef, BBQ sauce, Ketchup, Mustard, Ribs (Often times there are some really great rebates WYB beer or soda)
Breakfast foods (cereal, oatmeal, juice, bars) Cereal sales will start this month and continue into September as school starts up.
Lunch box food- juice boxes, lunchables, snacks, chips, yogurt

SEPTEMBER

The traditional Back to School Sales will start. For most school, classes begin the Tuesday after Labor Day. This is a great time to stock up on snacks that are healthy and shelf stable. 100 calorie snack packs, fruit leathers, 100% juice boxes, bottled water, peanut butter. Watch the inserts for Lunchables coupons too- they will start going on sale!

Back to School Supplies (Office Depot, Staples, and Walgreen’s often have Freebies)
Canned Goods. Canned soup and spaghetti sauce also starts to go on sale in September.
Frozen Pizza

The last three months of the year are packed full of holidays. Now is the time to stock up on “holiday foods”- Stuffing, turkey, instant mashed potatoes, broth/stock, cranberries (you can freeze the real ones for up to 6 months!), marshmallows, pudding, gelatin, flour, sugar, French fried onions, cream of mushroom soup. These ingredients can be used in everyday foods, not just once a year. Stock up when they are cheap (OR free!) and you will eat well all year.

There are LOADS of rebates during the last three months of the year for “holiday” foods, especially food that is usually served when entertaining, like crackers and cheese.

OCTOBER

Home goods such as serving dishes, and glassware (to prepare you for the onslaught of entertaining you will be doing for the holidays)
Candy, nuts
Baking/candy-making items (choc chips, sprinkles, vanilla, corn syrup, nuts, etc)
Fall/Winter clothing
Fabric, Patterns, sewing machines (Halloween)
Coats/Jackets

NOVEMBER

Winter Clothing
Blankets and flannel sheets
Heating Devices (space heaters, in wall heating units)
Turkey, ham
Canned goods (soup, chicken broth, condensed milk, veggies etc)
Baking goods (flour, sugar)
Baking wear
DECEMBER

Toys –Coupons.com usually has coupons for Fischer Price Toys in December
Gift Items There will be a lot of TMF offers and rebates on personal care this time of year. Stock up and fill your stockings and keep your wallet full.
Post-Holiday Sales I like to stock up on plain colored paper goods after each holiday and stockpile them to use throughout the year for parties and events. No one will know the red napkins are from Valentine’s Day, not from Christmas. Light Blue gift paper from Chanukah will wrap a present for a baby shower gift just the same.
Party Foods, Baking Goods, and Various Meat There will be a lot of rebates, keep your eyes open!
Canned goods (broth, soups, etc)
Prime Rib, Turkey, Ham

Year-round after a holiday, you can always pick up cheap cookie dough. Cookie dough freezes really well for about two month. You can also find plain colored paper goods, including plain colored wrapping paper and tissue paper after each holiday in the clearance section.

Easy, Family Friendly Water Saving Tips

Abby H.

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You may have heard, California is in a pretty severe drought situation, which has led to some pretty severe water use restrictions.

As a California Native, I honestly don’t remember a time when we haven’t been actively conserving water. However, now it’s more important than ever.

How can you and your family help out? Like most things, small tweaks can lead to big  changes, especially if many people pitch in.  Here are a few examples of ways YOU and YOUR FAMILY can help out:

Fix any leaky faucets. It may be as simple as replacing a worn out gasket in the faucet. Depending on how many drips you count per minute and how many faucets you have that are drip drip dripping, you could be wasting up to 5 gallons of water A DAY!!!

Limit showers to 5 minutes or less.  I know take a long, hot shower is nice, but realistically, most ladies don’t need to wash their hair every day, and all that water is just going down the drain. If you need to relax, take a bath.  Once you are done… try the next tip.

Got kids who still take a bath? Once they (or you!) are done, scoop the some of the water out of the tub in a bucket (I like the 5 gallon Homer Buckets from Home Depot) and use it to water your lawn, houseplants, or even your garden. For more tips and info on how and when it’s ok to use gray water in your garden, check out this segment from KPBS Midday Edition.

Only run the dishwasher when it’s full. That seems like a no-brainer, but it really does save water!

Use the correct setting on your washing machine! If you don’t have a large load, remember to change the load size on your washing machine. Using Energy Star rated appliances will not only help you save electricity, but it will also help you save water! Read the washing machine  manual to learn about which water settings should be used.

Turn off the sink while you are brushing your teeth or shaving. You could save up to 8 gallons a day per person who brushes their teeth.

Consider removing your lawn. I know having a lush, green lawn is a source of pride for some homeowners, but now is not the time!  You can Xeriscape, which is where you pull out the lawn and replace it with decorative rocks or mulch and native, drought tolerant plants. It’s really pretty. And you’ll be saving tons of water!

Pick up some rain barrels. I know, I know, we’re in a drought! But it still does rain here from time to time. The City of San Diego has a rebate program for those who purchase and install rain collection barrels. For those of us who can’t install barrels, you can always set out buckets to collect water and store it appropriately.  We always set out a few buckets to collect water for our patio garden.

Take your car to the carwash! Most commercial carwashes use  recycled water, so taking your car to the carwash is a great way to conserve water. It’s a lot more water efficient- the average commercial carwash uses 30-50 gallons of water per carwash (and most of it is or can be recycled), whereas a DIY at home car washing can use upwards of 100 gallons of water!

Compost your kitchen scraps! Instead of running your garbage disposal (which requires water!) to dispose of organic waste (that includes food waste), start a compost pile/bin.  You can find small compost bins (including table top versions!) at Home Depot for those who don’t’ have a large yard (like us). In addition to most food waste, yard waste, newspaper, and cardboard can be added to compost piles/bins. You can learn more about composting here.

So, there are just a few ways you can be water wise. How do you like to conserve water?