Saving Money: Day of Week, Time of Year Can Bring Discounts

— -- Did you know that timing your shopping can help you bag a bargain?

I’ve preached this sermon before when it comes to the time of year to get certain products at their cheapest. Now one of my savings has been broken down into days of the week.

For those who missed the memo on times of the year, you should know that entire categories of products typically go on special the same months every year. If you plan ahead, you can stock up at a deep discount.

Did you know Quaker puts its products on sale in January? Or that Prego and Ragu have sauce wars in September? If that whets your appetite, here are the seasonal sales coming up this summer:

June:

Building materials

Cheese

Hardware

Ice Cream/Yogurt

Tools

July:

Condiments

Computers

Hamburgers/Hot dogs

Pickles

Sodas

August:

Cereal

Cold cuts

Fish

Fresh fruits and vegetables

Juice

School supplies

Waffles

Consumer Reports offers a similar monthly guide for when best to buy bigger ticket items.

But I had never seen anybody time bargains down to the day of the week before. Author Kyle James of RatherBeShopping.com recently tracked which days are best to shop on the websites of 20 popular retailers.

“I tracked the day when coupons are most likely released and when they add new items to their online clearance section,” James told me.

Using those and other criteria, he came up with his recommendations. Here are the most popular retailers from his findings:

Sunday: Michaels

Monday: Barnes and Noble

Tuesday: The Gap

Wednesday: Home Depot

Thursday: Old Navy

Friday: Best Buy

Saturday: Target

Again, these recommendations are for the store’s websites. I’d love to see someone do the same for their brick and mortar stores, but I suspect it would be a lot more complicated, since there could be regional or even store-by-store variations. To see the rest of James’s when-to-shop recommendations, you can read his chart here.

James says he plans to add to the grid as he makes new discoveries, so check back or write in with your own. Happy (timed) shopping!

Opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author.

Elisabeth Leamy is a 20-year consumer advocate for programs such as "Good Morning America" and "The Dr. Oz Show." She is the author of Save BIG and The Savvy Consumer. Elisabeth is also a professional speaker, delivering talks nationwide on saving money, media relations, and career success. Elisabeth receives her best story tips from readers, so please connect with her via Facebook, Twitter or her website, to share your ideas.