Ask Megan: When To Get Your Deals

It has recently come to my attention that I have not explained something before telling you about them. Problem is, I don't realize that I haven't talked about it on here because I've told so many friends and family members in other ways; so to help ensure that I am making sense to all you readers out there, I have decided to open myself up to any questions you may have and I will do my best to answer them :) If you have any questions you would like me to take a stab at, just send me an email at showandtellmeg@gmail.com.

So, today's questions come from Tara :) She is a frequent source of inspiration on this blog, being my #1 fan and all :) She and I just had a phone conversation to answer a few of her coupon related questions, and I figured they would make a good opening to this segment.

Question: When is the best time to go out and get the in store deals?
This was kind of a hard one to answer, but I will tell you what I told Tara :) Her concern was that she can't get out to the stores with her freshly clipped coupons on Sunday, and by the time she gets out, all of the 'freebie' deals are gone. I have this happen myself as I'm sure everyone else does occasionally. Being that I don't believe in shopping on Sunday and therefore save my shopping for Monday, I have this happen a lot. So, when should you go if you can't get out on Sunday? Well, if you are a true die hard and the store in question is open 24 hours (CVS, Walgreens, Walmart), the sale for that week begins at the stroke of midnight on Sunday (a.k.a. midnight on Saturday night). I've even heard of stores starting a little early if they already have all the signs up for the sale - this is rare as most 24 hour stores are sticklers about the midnight rule, but it's not unheard of. So, if you're a night owl like me, you can head out at midnight on Saturday :)

If you are not a late night shopper, my only bit of advice is to go out Monday as soon as you can. If there is a really good sale, I try to take a lunch at hit the best store then. Sometimes, this is not an option so I go out after work. At CVS and Target, I can usually still make out pretty well. The only store I have consistent problems with is Walgreens. I know I have ranted about their practices with how many items they stock for their sales before, but their new 'Limit 1' concept has not helped. I've even checked several different days throughout the week, only to be met with an empty shelf every time. I even asked when they would get another shipment in at the Titusville store once and the clerk told me that they only get one shipment at the beginning of the week and when it's gone, it's gone. With this knowledge and the acquired wisdom of disappointment, I have adopted a new philosophy - Don't Count On Deals At Walgreens. I still check each Monday since Walgreens is directly across from Publix, but the last several weeks I have left the store without buying anything. On the other hand, CVS usually has enough of their sale items to at least last until the beginning of Tuesday. I have actually never had to check later in the week for something I really want, so I'm not sure how often they restock. Target restocks constantly. Sometimes I can come back the next day and they have more of whatever they were out of.

So, this has shaped up to be a very long post, but hopefully it was somewhat informative. I can only go by my personal experiences and I have good luck most everywhere when I go on Monday or Tuesday. So, my best advice is to just fit it into your schedule. We all have different things going on at different times. If it works better for you to head out at midnight on Saturday or wait until Monday, just do what you gotta do :) If I don't get a deal I wanted, I just shake it off and say, "It's not a big deal. I'll get it next time."