When visiting my daughter in Phoenix, I walk as often as possible. In part, that’s because I’m nowhere near a gym* but it’s also because (a) it gets me out of my daughter’s hair for a while** and (b) in the winter it’s such a delight to see sidewalks without ice.
By foot, it’s about one mile to a Walgreens. I always go in, even if I don’t need anything (or need to use the bathroom). That’s because my rule is always to check clearance. Most of the time I don’t find anything, but sometimes I score.
Last month, I scored big-time: three two-packs of replacement brush heads for our Sonicare toothbrush. They were Walgreens brand, but they fit. (I called DF to make sure before I bought them.) Each two-brush pack cost me 70 cents, or 35 cents apiece.
Typically, these brush heads cost anywhere from $1.99 to $13.74 (!) apiece. In other words, 468% to 3,825% more. Wow.
My dentist is happy. My budget is happier.
Clearance is (sometimes) your friend
It sounds like such a no-brainer. Such a simple thing to do. But it’s not true for everyone.
If you didn’t grow up watching someone sort patiently through piles of dross in hopes of finding a diamond, then “clearance” might be foreign territory to you.
Or maybe you’ve checked now and then, never found anything usable, and concluded that clearance = junk. Sometimes that’s true, but not always.
As for the “simple” part: If you’ve got tired, fussy kids, or are very low on spoons that day, then the idea of even a few extra steps seems insupportable. It happens. I was tempted to skip clearance myself one day, but would have missed out on 84-cent coffee if I had.
These inflationary times are scary. We can’t change the economy, but we can change how we react to price jumps. That’s why I urge everyone to keep checking clearance. You might have to wade through an awful lot of “Congratulations Class of 2023!” plaques and off-brand press-on nails.
But every now and then you’ll find something that makes your frugal heart beat a little faster. And I don’t mean all the caffeine from that 30-ounce can of coffee, either.
Readers: What’s your best-ever clearance deal?
*The gym I joined here in Anchorage, Planet Fitness, costs less than $14 a month, including the annual fee. It warms my frugal heart and warms up my protesting muscles. Very glad that the physical therapist gently insisted on my doing this.
**Some of those walks culminate at a nearby Wendy’s, where I get a baked potato, a free senior soft drink and the WiFi needed to get work done. This keeps me out of her hair even longer.
Good to see your post. Things must be really expensive in a Alaska of Planet Fitness is $414 a month. It’s less than $30 month near me. I’m fortunate that thanks to Medicare Silvers Sneakers ther was list of many gyms I could join for free. I chose the YMCA. With the free membership I can afford some personal trainer time. Happy Thanksgiving.
LOL – my thought too! I suspect there is a missing decimal point 🙂
Of the conventional supermarkets I use, my Price Chopper is the only one that has a clearance rack–but it’s a good one. No bargains as breathtaking as your toothbrush heads, but I check it regularly and find something I or someone else can use about 60% of the time. A good recent find was the 1-liter bottle of fancy-schmancy extra-virgin olive oil, marked down to slightly less than what a liter of my usual 10W40 EVOO costs. (And it wasn’t even past its sell-by date.) Given the recent jump in the price of olive oil, I was happy with this.
And I also shop two bargain outlets: my local Ollie’s (“Good stuff cheap!”) and my local no-name grocery outlet. Like clearance racks, these stores are hit or miss, but I’ve had hits often enough that I keep going back.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Pretty sure that Planet Fitness price is a typo 😂 Maybe it’s $4.14/month?
I normally go to the clearance rack first! You never know what kind of deal you’ll find!!
I also shop at local “bargain” outlets like Ollie’s and Big Lots and can find a good deal there also!
Happy Thanksgiving Donna!!
Happy turkey day to you as well, and to everyone else within eyeshot.
We always check clearance. My best ever was years ago when my daughter was very into Polly Pocket toys. We found a Polly Pocket carousel set (normally over $30 even 25 years ago) marked down to $1.12. She was thrilled! I also check to see if there are ever feminine hygeine products, adult diapers, formula or baby food, which we buy and donate to the food bank.
We take a lot of female supplies to the women’s shelter, and I also give them to someone in our Buy Nothing group: a high-school nurse and sees a lot of young women without the basics. She also happily accepts any and all toiletries to pass along to these girls.
Yeah! We love our Planet Fitness also paid for by Medicare Silver Sneakers. We are pretty regular. My Internist also pushed me.
I always, always, always check clearance! A week ago I found big bags(19.5oz) of Reeses peanut butter cups for $1.95! I bought 3 bags. I put most aside for grand kids stockings. Some may possibly already have been eaten:)
I just went to the Ollie’s near us too that Cheryl talked about. We have our 26 year old grand daughter still living with us post her divorce and she has SO much stuff it boggles my mind. We found some very reasonable storage shelves and containers that make the organization of her stuff easier and didn’t break the bank. The grand daughter also brought to our house a cat. I found in Krogers clearance a great deal on the cat food the cat eats and ALSO got $2 back from Shopmium app and also cash back from Ibotta. It was a good deal! Happy Thanksgiving to all!
On the hottest day of summer one year, Wal-Mart had a sidewalk sale, and there was a rack of t-shirts jammed full of stuff that hadn’t sold. Lo and behold, I found the shirt I wanted for $3! It was a Christmas T-shirt that had a certain very famous Dr. Seuss character on it with the slogan, “Don’t Be A Grinch!” I’d seen one before: My friend from out of town had one when she visited me in December, and she said she’d paid something like $19.99 for hers. Being as I was in between jobs, I dared not shop for one then. Although I sure wished I had one. But, months later, it was there on Clearance at a very reasonable price! I was so happy that I’d thought to brave the triple-digit heat and see what they had that day. Oh, and I’m still wearing it every Yuletide season, all these years later, so I definitely got my money’s worth.
My best haul was when the K Mart in our town closed. Giant candy bars for under $1 which I used as prizes at our annual family Christmas Eve party…Christmas trivia is a blast…boxes of jello for .19, large cans of fruit for .49, a towel bar for $2.
The after Christmas and after Valentines Day sales on candy are always good at Rite Aid too.
When the Anchorage K-Mart closed, one of the things I bought was a garden hoe for 19 cents. Pretty surprising.
And yeah, 90% off holiday candy is always a good price.
I love clearance too.
My very best was a small one, but I was thrilled with it. I got a box of 6 granola-type bars for 29 cents. They weren’t past their “best by” date, and they were pretty good, all the sweeter for the bargain. I was at our local Ollie’s the other day and got a jar of organic pasta sauce for $2.49 minus a 15% discount. The Ollie’s isn’t close by, but I may try to shop there a bit more often. On another note, I never thought about Walgreen’s having a clearance shelf. I’ll have to check out ours and see if I can find one.
Happy Thanksgiving!
I’ve seen clearance shelves at dollar stores and convenience stores. About that last: One gas station store near me had remaindered flour that worked out to be less per pound than the supermarket.
We don’t have an Ollie’s in Alaska. In fact, I’ve never been to one.
There’s an Ollie’s fairly close to me, but I’ve never been. I’ve been meaning to but thanks to these comments, it’s moved up on my to-do list!
Just got your holiday card. Wow, your kids are growing up fast!