Food Shopping Specialties: Tips For Saving On Groceries

If you are planning a trip to your local mall shopping center, you want to make sure that you know how to score deals. Although outlet malls are supposed to have lower prices than their regular store counterparts, there are a few tricks you can use to score and find the best deals, even at an outlet mall.

Shop Out of Season

When you are shopping, try to purchase things when they are out of season. That doesn't mean that you are actually getting the items late. For example, summer clothing tends to go on clearance in the middle of the summer, and winter coats are often already on the clearance racks come January. If you can wait to purchase some new clothing or seasonal items, you may be able to score the item during the season that it is relevant, too, because stores are always trying to sell you items in advance.

Have a List

Just like when you go grocery shopping, you should always head to an outlet mall with a list of the items that you want to purchase. It is too easy to go to an outlet mall and overspend because everything is on sale. If you blow your budget, it doesn't matter how much the items costs.

Having a list that you stick to will help you guide your shopping and will help you avoid making impulse buys.

Set an Impulse Budget

It can be hard, even with a list, to avoid all impulse purchases. If you want to allow yourself a little wiggle room for picking up random good deals on things that you didn't plan on, create an impulse budget, and stick to it. For example, if your impulse budget is $20, that is twenty dollars that you can spend on anything that is not on your list. If the impulse item costs more than that, you'll have to pass on the item.

Show Up Early

Outlet malls can be really busy year-round. Don't think you are going to avoid the crowd by going on a Wednesday afternoon. If you want to avoid the crowds, head to the outlet mall and get there right when it opens. Another advantage of getting to an outlet mall just as it is opening is that you will have first dibs on all the new stock. Outlet malls rotate inventory really quickly, so those shoes that you want may not be on sale or in stock by the time you get to the mall in the afternoon.

For your favorite stores, learn what days they get deliveries so that you can be there on the days they replenish their stock. That gives you the best chance of getting a good deal.

When you go to your outlet mall, have a target shopping list and an impulse budget. Shop out of season, and get to the mall early in the morning for the best deals.