Summer merchandise: It’ll be very slim pickin’ wherever you see summer merchandise, but if you have time to hunt, may be worthwhile. Kmart has all their summer stuff down to $0.99. Was wishing I had time to go through the racks–I would have liked to have pick up some extra swim trunks or play clothes for the boys. Or beach towels. I did find J&J sunscreen last week clearanced to $1.50 and I had $1 coupons, I was pleased with that price!

Halloween/fall merchandise: It will get progressively cheaper as it gets closer to Halloween.
Candy-the manufacturers unfortunately have gotten smarter in recent years–look at any candy coupon you have and I bet it expires on 10/31. So unless new ones come out, there won’t be any pairing up coupons with clearance. Still, it is very cheap this time of year and think of what you may want it for, especially if it’s in a regular wrapper, and not one that is Halloween themed. Maybe they’ll make good Valentines for your kids at school. Rewards for chores and other things around the house. Stocking stuffers. Holiday gift bags. Use it in baking. Don’t go crazy, but if you need it, now is the time to get it.
Costumes-After Halloween, buy them for dress-up for your kids. Does your child’s classroom have a dress up area? Maybe donate one or two to them. I know how kids are, as far as changing their minds about costumes, so I would never suggest you buy one for next year. Unless………you are organized, have the storage space, and maybe want to buy them cheap now, ebay them next year.
Other-look for the clearanced Halloween bags, stickers, decorations and other items that will be very cheap.

Canning-the big canning season of the year is pretty much over and some stores will be unloading the excess they bought. Have to make room for xmas stuff!

School supplies-remember how back in August all the big box stores had bins and bins and bins of $1 school supplies (or less!). I was in Target last week and it was all reduced 30%. Again, think of school gifts, stocking stuffers and other occasions when you may need these. Or stockpile for next school year.

Baking-as we move into cooler weather and the holidays, baking items go on sale frequently. If you feed canned pumpkin to your dogs, now is the time to stock up. (Lots of dog folks I know use this, it has lots of fiber) If you have the space and the containers, now is the time to stock up on flour, sugar, shortening and all that stuff. There will be coupons for these items almost every week. I keep flour in the freezer and it does well.

October is Adopt a Dog Month, Fire Prevention month and of course Breast Cancer Awareness month. Look for pet promos and sales on batteries/smoke detectors to go with these campaigns. If you’re buying pink, make sure that the item really is donating proceeds to breast cancer awareness and not just a marketing tactic.

Home Improvements:the tax break for doing energy-improving home improvements goes until 12/31. I did a post on it several weeks ago. But look for all the big fix-it stores to run sales on all sorts of things related to this–energy efficient appliances, insulation, anything that will make your home more efficient. Double check the gov’t website to make sure your purchase qualifies before you buy. We’re getting new insulation in our attic and I’m thrilled! When it’s really hot out and we have the ac on, if you raise your hand in the air, you can feel the temperature difference. I know we’re going to save lots of money on heating and cooling with this improvement.

Turkeys: I know how it is, by January you don’t even want to look at turkey. But lots of stores are doing great promos and sales on them, and giving them away. If you have the space in your freezer, take them. You can always roast one some wintery Sunday in March. Sometimes when whole chickens are buy one, get one,  I roast two once, we eat one. The other one, I pick off all the meat and freeze that in portions to use in soup or other recipes. If you get them free and really don’t want them, donate!