How to Shop Sales

Oh, this Monday-less week has taken a toll on me. I feel all backwards and off-schedule and I love my schedule so that's bad. Today I even slept in until 7 am. THE HORROR. I find that when I start off my morning by sleeping in, I tend to be sloth-like all day. My workout just about killed me this morning.

Anyway, the reason for the Monday-less week was obviously Memorial Day. There's always a huge sale that I like to hit the Saturday before Memorial Day, so I naturally went to go check things out. And I think I did well; I got some basic tees, a couple pairs of shoes, and a couple of fun new shirts that's I'm excited about. It made me think about sale shopping in general. Do you guys know how to shop sales?

The trick is to not get too excited. Sale tags are AWESOME, but only when you actually need what you're buying. My father-in-law always says that it's not saving money if you're spending it. He usually says this when I tell him I save $20 on a pair of shoes, so boo to that.



(My shopping triumph last weekend: These $90 Nine West shoes for $14 BOOM)

Anyway, if you want to check out the summer sales without losing your head, here are some of my best tips.

Make a day of it. When you're cruising sales, you're probably going to need to do a lot of browsing, and you can't do that with a crunched timeline. Give yourself a couple of hours, some comfy shoes, and a good friend so you're not cranky and pressed for time while shopping.

Check out different stores. When there's a mall-wide sidewalk sale, it's the perfect time to check out stores and brands that you might not have worn before. When I was shopping over the weekend I picked up an Ann Taylor shirt. And no offense to AT-wearers, but I'd never even thought to shop there before because it's just not my style. Who knew?

Make up outfits. Yeah, that sweater might be a screaming deal, but only if you'll actually wear it. If you can't think of at least two ways to wear a new piece, it might be a good idea to pass. Otherwise, it could end up in that dark corner of your closet where old clothes go to die and that's a waste of money.

Check on return policies. Plenty of sales and clearance items are going to be final sale, so you'd better be sure you love it if you're going to commit. This is not the time for wishy washiness. Ask a store associate about the return policy when you're checking out so you don't get any annoying surprises when the pants you didn't actually try on don't actually fit.

Pick up "hole fillers": Sale shopping is the perfect time to pick up items that fill a gap in your wardrobe. Whether it's a really awesome-fitting shirt, or a new pair of flats, you can't go wrong by doing a little bargain shopping. It'll make you feel like you accomplished something on the cheap. YAY!


Alright, do you have any good tips for sale shopping? What was your best score? I'm always happy with cheap shoes, but I got a screaming deal on a leather jacket during the Nordstrom anniversary sale that I'm way proud of.