'Buy Shoes on Wednesday and Tweet at 4' Author Reveals Secrets of Timing

Sept. 26, 2012— -- Everyone wants a good deal – the best deal they can get – regardless of their socio-economic status. I am no exception to the rule and so I turned to best-selling author Mark Di Vincenzo, who has written a book filled with tips on "how to save time and money, live healthier, look better, and make savvier choices in your careers and social life." It is a follow up book to his 2009 best-seller "Buy Ketchup in May and Fly at Noon."

I asked him about his new book's catchy title: "Buy Shoes on Wednesday and Tweet at 4:00." He loves it as a title, but the "buy shoes on Wednesday" is the only tip in the book that does not have a "satisfying" explanation. A company called Shopittome.com track on-line sales of clothing retailers and found that Wednesday was the best day to buy shoes online because one can save 40 percent - why? No one really knows.

The ideal tweeting time is between 4-5 p.m. because Twitter found that this is when most of their users are active and therefore gives your Tweet "maximum exposure" and the most chance of being retweeted. Second best time to Tweet is noon EST as it is lunch hour on the East Coast, the start of business on the West Coast and end of business in Europe as people there leave their offices and check their Twitter accounts one last time before they head home.

I asked what his favorite tip was and his coy response was he has three daughters and none are favorites and the same goes for the tips in his book. However, he agreed to give me his top 13 list, which he likes as they are "surprising."

Top 13 tips:

• Cars: Best day of the week to take your car in for a repair is Monday morning. People do not want to be late for work the first day of the week and thus fewer people drop off their cars to repair shops. So car repair shops will either offer deals or be more receptive to your suggesting a deal (you have to be proactive in asking for deals). Thursdays tend to be slow and no one knows quite why, so it's also a potential deal day. A follow-up car tip is to do your oil change every 5-10,000 miles vs. every 3,000 miles as the quality of oil has improved and therefore does not necessitate more frequent changes.

• Beauty: Best time to color your hair is when it is slightly dirty because "there is something called hydro-lipid film that protects your scalp and could really irritate your scalp," said Di Vincenzo. So, if one's hair is slightly dirty then one has more scalp protection.

• Beauty: Best month to get a facial is September. We expose our skin to the sun in the summer and are thus more likely to do damage to our skin. So, Di Vincenzo advises, "If you only get one facial a year, it should be in September so as to provide healing for your skin."

• Charity: Best day of the week to ask for a donation is Sunday. Studies have been done on this and have found that "people who are asked to give on a Sunday give 51 percent more than any other day," according to Di Vincenzo.

• Health: Best time of day to get anesthesia is in the morning. If one gets it in the afternoon, one is four times more likely to have a complication. In the morning, according to Di Vincenzo, the anesthesiologist is "fresher and less distracted and the whole surgical team tends to be more on the same page early in the morning."