Yesterday I was the most reluctant of errand-runners. I’d slept poorly the night before. I’d gotten a late start on the day. I’d needed to deal with a retirement planning thingy that required visits to two different financial institutions.
At that point all I wanted was to go home. But the bag of emptied printer cartridges was rattling on the floor. For ages I’d been meaning to drop them off for recycling.
Grumpily, I forced myself to drive to Office Max. Once I’d handed over the cartridges at the front desk I was ready to bolt for home.
However, I have an ironclad policy: Always check the clearance section.
I headed for the rear of the place. And boy, did I score.
Right away I saw these cute li’l notebooks that would be perfect for a couple of Christmas stockings. Naturally, their new prices weren’t marked, either on the notebooks or on the shelf. Already grumpy and already tired, I now had a new thing to resent: Lousy signage!
I hiked over to the printing center and asked the young man if he would please run a price check. He did so and announced, “71 cents.”
Fair enough, I thought, but I really only need two. So I shuffled back to the clearance section and put one back. At which point I saw the 30-ounce can of coffee on the top shelf.
Clearance coffee = deep discount
No price on that one, either, because of course there wasn’t. Refraining from a put-upon sigh (which would have been silly, really, given the barely-there nature of the hassle), I went back to the printing center.
“Me again. Would you please run a price check on this one? Thanks.”
He ran it. Then he ran it again, blinked and said, “84 cents.”
Um…Wut?!?
“Seriously?”
Yes.
Which necessitated yet another trip to clearance, to make absolutely sure I hadn’t overlooked a dozen other cans of discounted java. Sadly, I hadn’t.
At the front of the store, the checker ran the coffee across the scanner and did a double-take. “The coffee is 84 cents?”
Yes. Yes, it is.
And no, I don’t drink coffee. Can’t abide the stuff. However, DF is a ferocious fan and as a fellow frugalist he was delighted by my find. It’s medium roast, so if it tastes a little too bland he’ll just mix it in with the darker blend he buys from Costco.
The moral of the story: Always check the clearance section. Much of the time you’ll find stuff like lime-green socks and “As Seen on TV” items marked “as-is.” Every now and then, though, you hit the jackpot.
Readers: Have you ever scored big-time in the clearance section?
Related reading:
Congrats on the notebooks and coffee finds! Yes, I’ve scored many times in the clearance section of stores. Three years ago, I found a 24-piece box of Rubbermaid food storage containers on a clearance shelf at a grocery store. They were 50% off and I grabbed them up. I use them all the time. I usually check the clearance section unless I’m too tired/and or distracted. Yea for the clearance section!
I’m trying to think of a specific deal I’ve found in the clearance section (because I’ve found so many!) and one of the best I remember is $7 dresses at JCPenney. I worked at a funeral home at the time and had to wear a dress every day, so a nice dress for work at $7 was a huge bargain! (And they were pretty, too. I think I got three.) LOL
I never, never, never leave a store without finding the clearance section and checking it out. We’ve affectionately named it Clarence, as in he does his thing and I go see Clarence. 😉
It may be the lousiest but bestest coffee at 84 cents.
I always hit the clearance racks at the local grocery chain. I spied some 32 oz jugs of grade A 100% maple syrup with a sign that said $2.00. I assume it was $2 off and picked one up. When I got to register she had trouble scanning it. The price was $2. I immediately ran back and got several more. They still carry that brand, just not the size. Score.
And so many people say….oh I don’t bother. That’s fine…all the more for me. I’m not proud. Just frugal.
Yep.
A friend of mine and I were having our usual shopping day at Big Lots and it was after Halloween/Thanksgiving so all the big plastic protective tablecloths that were orange or black were marked down to 50cents on a discounted seasonal table. Then we noticed ALL the colors had 50cent stickers on them. The cashier looked doubtful but many of all colors were purchased at 50cents. Yes!
I, like yourself, always make a point of scanning the clearance section. My best finds have been at Target where I purchased sleeping bags with their own drawstring carry bags for $3 each. These were given to the boys to use for sleepovers and have since been handed down to my niece for her kids. I also got $4 Razor brand all metal pogo sticks. I bought 4 and gave two as birthday presents and kept the other two for my three kids to share. I’ve found 100 piece art sets for a dollar and given them out as party favors.
My best find was at Lord & Taylor when I was with my daughter. She had admired a top she had seen at Nordstrom’s earlier that season that was by a popular designer brand and way out of our price range, especially for a 14 year old girl. Well, Lord & Taylor send me a $50 gift card completely out of the blue so we went shopping and saw the self same top on the clearance rack marked down, plus an extra 50% off the marked price. In the end the top cost us $6!!!!
Those are some steals, all right, especially as regards birthday gifts and party favors.
Among my own favorite finds at Target are two-packs of those stretchy knit gloves for 27 cents per pack (I bought a couple of dozen to donate to a shelter), holiday-themed infant sleepers for 89 cents (also donated) and, last year, Christmas flannel sheets for $13.98 (which became $3.98 because I had $10 in Target scrip from Coke Rewards).
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When my daughter was little, she loved Polly Pocket. We found a 110 piece carousel set in the clearance section of Target for $1.12. Another great buy was when the local WalMart was clearancing a brand of sugar they were phasing out – I got eight four pound boxes at 25 cents each.
Loving all these stories. Keep ’em coming!
Yowza.
I still hold out hope that I’ll find a repeat of the 25-cents-per-can pumpkin that DF and I stumbled onto at Walmart some years back. Not likely, but still….
“I have an ironclad policy: Always check the clearance section.” THAT!!! Today, in anticipation of a “major snowstorm” I stopped at Walmart to get a flashlight, some candles and some matches. I found a 10 pk of flashlights (batteries included) for $5 on clearance as well as some Glade bathroom spray for 25 cents. I suppose the store thinks that pine, or as Glade calls it “enchanted evergreen” is a Christmas only scent, and thus the mark down.
The clearance section is a must-stop place for me when I go to the supermarket. I like trying new products that I wouldn’t bother with if they were their regular price. Many have been delicious; a few were awful, so I was glad that I hadn’t paid very much. I once got a roasting pan with rack that was 50% off. Last week I stopped at a supermarket where Christmas wrapping paper and gift bags were 90% off. I’m now pretty well set for this year in that regard. The clearance section is an adventure!
It’s like a treasure hunt, as are thrift stores. You might find nothing you need/want four times out of five, but oh, that fifth visit.
Ironically, I scored today! I was headed to Bed Bath and Beyond to look for new bedroom curtains (recently painted it) , there’s a World Market next door so I went in there to see what they had—-lo and behold, found perfect color, on clearance for $7.49! Went to checkout and they were an additional 50% off!!!! So both windows are now adorned for a total of $7.49 + tax!!
Score, indeed! And I happen to know that this is a domicile you own free and clear:
http://donnafreedman.com/cheryl-paid-off-mortgage/
Thanks Donna, and I never tire of looking at that letter from the bank stating the same! 🙂
I used to be an avid clearance shopper, but MrH isn’t as interested in that game. I’ve scored a lot of great grocery items that way, and at different times in different stores have found shirts and shorts for myself at $2 a pop. The shorts have given up the ghost, but I still wear the shirts.
I think my funniest clearance find was plaid skorts marked down to $1 in Wal-Mart’s junior section. Not something I’d normally buy, but our family was doing historical re-creation at the time, and two of those skorts made serviceable “kilts” for our sons, then 3 and 5. Ah, memories…
I think my best find was in the clearance section at Walmart – 3 packs of clorox cleaning wipes for TEN CENTS each! I grabbed as many as they had!
Oh! And 2 Christmases ago I found saran wrap on 90% clearance after Christmas – it had holiday penguins on the box apparently, so it Had To Go.
I usually only check the clearance section at my grocery store. Most of the time I’m unfamiliar with where the clearance section is hiding in other stores and don’t want to try to find it. At the grocery store though I’ve gotten some great 50% off things. Laundry detergent, oatmeal, and face toiletries among my favorite finds.
All the time! Feel my husband makes fun of me for it, but I’m alright with it! Best deal was at a Walmart store in a college town during July. The clearance section was a whole aisle! Ended up getting a brand new Chi hair straightener for $25 and a ton of home goods supplies for next to nothing!
I shop as little possible these days, which is a great time and money saver, but cuts down on super clearance deal potential (Which is fine, actualy). Just today I went to Target and was *shocked* at their grocery prices – egads!
I did zero shopping for after Christmas markdowns anywhere this year. But last year, on a random trip to Target, a quick scan of clearance end caps revealed cute mason jars with ingredients for gingerbread cookies inside. The expiration date wasnt until 2020. Of course, they weren’t marked and they wouldnt scan, so I schlepped them to the front of the store, where they were determined to be something like $1.84. I bought six of them and added them to my future gift stash.
This year, while shopping at my favorite thrift store, I found four red and white checkerboard napkins with gingerbread men woven into the fabric for $2. I grabbed them and used them to wrap the mason jars of gingerbread cookie mix. Cute activity gift for under $2.50? Sign me up!
Now I need to have a new policy to always check the clearance aisle as well awesome finds!
I think my best find was large bottles of cooking oils for one penny each, at Dollar General, about 18 months ago.
Dog food, 40 pound bags marked down to $3.00 a sack. They had 10, we bought 10. We have two Irish wolfhounds and they go through 150 pounds of dog food a month, or more.
Second best deal: large sized boxes of Shredded Wheat, for 25 cents a box. I bought five. The next week, the ones I had left behind were still there, for 10 cents a box now. I bought the remaining four. We seldom buy cereal but plain old shredded wheat is a favorite with both of us.
Lowe’s- I purchased $39.95 Waverly curtains marked down to $7.50 for my living room-bought 6curtains & 2 balances to fill I the middle of the double window!!
Great job finding the sales! And so thoughtful of you to pick up the coffee! 🙂
I’ve avoided all clearance as I’ve been decluttering nonstop. It’s just too tempting, unless it’s a consumable. 🙂
I’m all about the consumable clearance stuff. That includes things other people will consume, such as those notebooks for Christmas stockings. Like you, I want to reduce the amount of stuff in my way: Things that seldom/never get used, things I forgot I had, things that just aren’t worth keeping.
I have found many great bargains in the clearance aisle but 2 events stand out in my mind. In the spring of 1982 our Wal-Mart marked their infant clothes down to next to nothing. My oldest was a baby and I bought $120 worth of clothes for less than $20. I picked carefully and got things for her to grow into. My generation was having lots of babies at that time so several things were picked up for gifts.
In the 2nd big score: I moved to this house in February of 2016. I was mid-divorce after a very long marriage and had taken very few things with me from the marital home. I was shopping in Big Lots and their Christmas trees were 90% off. A 7-foot tall cashmere tree came home with me for the grand sum of $9. That story is already legendary in my family and when the tree goes up, the story gets told again.
“Listen, my children, and you shall hear
“How Grandmother paid a price far less dear
“For this pricey tree, ‘neath which presents sit
“Gifts on which she also saved quite a bit.”
Love these tales.
Just a couple of weeks ago I scored an amazing deal at Macy’s. I don’t usually shop there, but had gone in right before Christmas to get a couple of sweaters for a Christmas gift for my Mother. Had to return one of the sweaters, so while there, I meandered around the floor to see if anything caught my eye. And boy, did it! Turned a corner to find a sign that read “$2.92”. This was for knit shirts – some turtlenecks, some crew necks, some Henley necklines. There were only a few shirts left on the shelf, but these shirts are normally $10 to $20 each. I live in knit shirts! I found 4 – different colors, different styles – in my size. Walked out with 4 for about $12. Merry Christmas to me!!
Merry Christmas, indeed. I know that I’m missing out on great prices by not regularly stopping in at department stores, especially Target and Walmart, but I just don’t enjoy shopping.
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The C word pulls me in every time! I love clearance racks!
You know what, I check the Target clearance aisles and end caps ALL THE TIME (I go twice a year, hah) and haven’t had a winner in ages. It’s been so long since I had a coup like yours I honestly don’t remember what it was. What I get for refusing to leave the house, I suppose 🙂
I do the same thing every week at the grocery store or any other store I go to. I guess the best was when I passed a Dollar General Store on the way to another town for a Doctor’s appointment. I noticed a sidewalk sale in progress and turned around. They had racks and racks of long dresses with jackets in size 10. That is too big for me, but they were 25 cents each. I am a property manager and use contractors all the time. I get to know them and I know they struggle with getting enough income to meet basic needs. I bought ten dress and jacket sets and took them to work sans price tag and let all my cleaning contractors look them over and choose what they wanted. They were thrilled and I felt like a million dollars.
I’m like you, I don’t like coffee, but my boyfriend does. At $.84 I would hvae bought it too. Once I got a deal on a pocketbook. Other purses, same color were priced $22-$25, THe one I chose had no price tag. After the clerk checked numbers inside, told me $5.00 I bought it.
I would have bought it, too — and I use a handbag maybe once a year.
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