Thrifty Thursday: Clearance Items

Last day to enter the Abigail's Hope Designs Giveaway !!! Check it out HERE until March 18.
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Today I have just a quick post for you... but it is one of my most favorite ways to be thrifty... CLEARANCE!!!!

I love a good sale... and even better, I LOVE a good clearance sale. Items that are perfectly great... but out of season (which in the fashion world means right on season), nearing their sell-by date (yet still good for quite a while in most cases), old packaging... or no apparent reason... are marked down anywhere from 25-90% off!
Knowing where to look for these items as well as when the markdowns happen will help you get some great deals.
My number one favorite place to find clearance items is at Target. They typically keep clearance on the outside end-caps. This is true for all the stores in town, and most out-of-town stores I have visited as well. If you check with your local store, they will likely tell you what day items are marked down... and they typically go from 30% to 50% to 75% to 90% (one week apart). If an item is on clearance, and you have a coupon... you just scored a super fantastic deal! This week I was able to get my swimsuit top and bottom on clearance for $7.48 each... and I had a $5 coupon that printed from the register a few weeks back... that made the whole swimsuit $10 (normally $36)! What a super deal! A couple weeks ago I got some Physicians Formula Organic makeup (mascara and lip gloss) for free because they were on clearance and I used a coupon on them! So keep your eyes peeled for those little red stickers!

The other place where I have started getting some great deals is the grocery store! There are many items that have sell-by dates... but their shelf-life is much longer! For example, this week I got some pasta on clearance for $.79 and I had a coupon for $.55/1 making the pasta $.24 a box. I was also able to get some amazing ice-cream for $1 that was on clearance because the store was not going to carry that flavor/brand any more... Um... I'll take $1 ice cream! One more deal I got this week... super cheap diapers... I was able to get diapers that were marked down to $5.99 for a package... then I paired it with a $2.00 coupon and a doubler (for $1) and got the package for $2.99! Super deal!!! At my local grocery stores, the clearance items are most often placed in shopping carts and placed in out-of-the-way locations... like in the back of the store nooks. However, there are some items that are in their normal location but marked with that super red sticker.

So... I encourage you to keep your eyes peeled for clearance items... and then see if you can match it up with a coupon!!

Good luck!