5 Things You’ll Pay Less For If You Wait Until After The Holidays

(bluwmongoose)

Everyone knows, or at least should know, that the best time to buy a huge honkin’ TV set isn’t during the holidays, but in the weeks immediately following the Super Bowl, and that post-Valentine’s Day is the perfect time to get some jewelry at rock-bottom prices. But they’re not the only items on a lot of holiday shopping lists that would be cheaper to buy at some point after Dec. 25.

Kiplinger has a lovely slide show of a dozen items — including the aforementioned TVs and bling — that you should avoid buying during the holiday shopping season. Here are the ones we considered the most interesting on the list, in order of how soon after the holiday you can get a good deal.

1. Cars (Between Christmas and New Year’s)

Sure, it looks a bit romantic in the commercial when the impossible attractive couple with the camera-ready home give each other luxury cars with big red bows on top, but Kiplinger says you’d do better to wait until after Christmas and take advantage of year-end clearance sales at dealerships looking to make room for the next model year. And besides, you know that everyone on the block really hates that adorable couple, and their new cars will be covered in egg and toilet paper by week’s end.

2. Furniture (January)

If you can live with that ratty sofa for a few more weeks, or duct tape that fractured chair leg a couple more times, Kiplinger says you can score some clearance deals on new furniture in January when stores are preparing to bring in next year’s models.

3. Perfume (post Valentine’s Day)

What’s more alluring than some nose-tickling new scent on the neck of your loved one? Knowing you saved up to 50% by waiting until after the Christmas and Valentine’s buying frenzy.

4. Luggage (March)

Okay, so maybe this isn’t as sexy as some of the other items in the round-up, but people do spend a lot of money on luggage and may not know that they can get the best deal in March, as retailers look to keep merchandise moving between the holiday and summer travel seasons.

5. Bicycles (September)

Unless you have a time machine, this is one you’ll have to mark on the calendar for next autumn, when retailers discount current models about 25% to make room for the new two-wheelers. And if you do have a time machine, we’d hope you would use it for more interesting purposes than going back in time a few months to score a discount on a bike.

Again, you can check out the whole list at Kiplinger.com.

by Chris Morran via Consumerist