Pinching Pennies and Shopping for Deals

Atlanta has some amazing shopping. There's Chanel, Louis Vuitton, Prada and about every other designer. While I appreciate quality, I'm a huge fan of being practical. This post is all about being practical...in my own insane little way. 


It's 150 degrees in Atlanta with a gazillion percent humidity...that means I'm shopping clearance sales for winter coats and boots! 


And Flannel sheets...can't forget the flannel sheets.


Based on the locations of Air Force bases there's a 70% chance we'll end up somewhere that averages more than 7" of snow per year. That's about 6.50" more snow than we see in Atlanta. I also have family in the northeast and I always need winter goodies for those visits. Stores in the places with harsh winters really know their winter gear. Heck, they have brands that I've never seen sold down south.


I love digging through the clearance sections of websites this time of year. They're really making room for this year's winter stock. After last year's mild winter, they seem to have plenty on DEEP discount. I'm finding some really great deals.


Here are some of the goodies I've discovered. Please share if you find some of your own.

Bon Ton is a chain of stores in the northern part of the US. I stumbled across them last winter when I was obsessing over a pair of boots and did a Google Shopping search with the brand and style name. I got really lucky. They had the same boots for about 50% what I almost spent for them had the other store not run out of my size. I happened to catch them on-sale and got an additional savings by using a coupon code I saw on their site. 


Since then I've started looking for regional chains in specific climates. Stores (THINK regional chains or local businesses) found in Illinois, Michigan, or Montana, etc. are great for winter clothes. I also read the reviews and pay special attention to where people are from and how the product measures up. 


I found these sheets on the Bon Ton website. They had other color combinations including a solids and plaids. Who can't use blue plaid flannel sheets?

I thought these flannels would be cute for the guest bedroom. They were  $80-$120, now  $16-$21.

I'm looking forward to getting out of the big city and having grass and a yard again. I love sitting outside and reading year round. While this fire pit/stand is VERY tempting, I'm not buying anything I can't wear or eat until we've actually moved. (Hear me? That's me sticking to my guns!) If you have a yard and want a fire pit...this one is cute.  It was over $500 and it's now only $153. 

 This was $512 and now it's $153. 

 Cabela's is another on-line store I frequently visit for good casual clothes. (I've never purchased pants from there as the inseams are too short for my height, but I purchased jackets, vest and accessories.) They have a Bargin Cave on their website and it has some pretty decent deals. I found this rain coat. I had a tough time buying a decent rain coat this past fall. For some silly reason retailers thought rain coat meant trench coat. It. Does. Not. 


I went to 500 (maybe an exaggeration) stores one day and couldn't find a single rain coat with a hood. What?

Their Cabela's brand is actually very good. We've ordered 3 or 4 jackets from them. This rain coat is only $34.99 now, marked down from $79.

I'm also seriously in love with this parka from the Eddie Bauer website clearance section. It was $219 and it's now $65.70. OMG! It also comes in a Tall size which is hard to find. (I love that Eddie Bauer carries extended sizes.) A lot of clearance shopping is hunting and digging for stuff in your size. You may not get your first choice of color either. Since I have a tendency to buy everything in black or grey...not always a bad thing.

And it's rated for Cold: 20-40 degrees. Which isn't too unreasonable and could be worn on a cold winter night most anywhere.  They also say it was featured in Oprah's magazine. 

Tips:

Go to the clearance section and narrow your search by gender then by outerwear, accessories, shirts, etc.

Don't ignore web labels that say "further reduction", "final sale" or "bargin cave". Some sites may not show you the super-deep discounts with the regular section.

There's a big difference between sale and clearance. Make sure you check the clearance part of the site.

Filter the clearance page by Price: Lowest to Highest when you are just browsing for deals.

When it gets to a price over your price range...STOP.

Do a web search for the store name and the words "coupon codes". There are some sites that archive various coupon codes or tell you how to go about getting special discounts. (Signing up for their email is usually a good way to get a 10%-20% Thanks for Signing Up special.)

Check out the reviews. Sometimes a store will dump a problematic styles on the clearance page once too many complaints or returns happen. I saw a lot of bad reviews because the fabric of a jacket was "too noisy" and the jacket was deep discounted. I bet they'll revamp the design next year and use different fabric.