Where to Find Clearance Items, Even in the Grocery Store

Posted on | June 7, 2010 | 4 Comments

Give me your slightly dented, your scratched, or your six-months-until-expiration, and I will gladly give them all a home. When I discussed a few weeks back about saving money without using coupons by shopping clearance items first and not last, I’ll bet you didn’t think I also meant clearance bins in the grocery store. Well, they have become one of my favorite locations for deals! Under an occasional exploded bottle of soap, and the dust of some unknown product, there are usually some great finds.

In fact last week a certain grocery bin at a Kroger’s gave me that most elusive of frugal decadence: a negative balance at a cash register. Not to brag, but it was my second in that week. The first occurred at Wal-Greens where I purchased a bottle of Ecotrin low-dose aspirin (heart med for my grandmother), and three containers of dental floss. After giving my coupons to the register clerk, I ended the transaction at a -$0.03. She was baffled and flustered, so I talked her through everything with the confidence of a senior investor coaching his freshman counterpart. And then, as if to add mystique, she slowly tore off the $2.00 in register rewards for me to use on my next in-store purchase. That’s right—a profit of $2.03, after purchasing products. That same day I went to the nearby Kroger’s and mozied my way down to the freezer section. In between frozen pizzas and frozen peas, I found four bins ripe for rummaging through. I was able to purchase two Gillette deodorants (the expensive $4.00+ kind) in addition to the Sweet Baby James barbecue sauce I had gotten off of a shelf. Total was -$0.02. This time, we had to call a manager in.

             As stated earlier, I am a huge proponent of shopping the clearance section first, not last, and so I’d like to help you find clearance items in places you may not think they exist.

  • Dollar stores
  • In the back corners of Drugstores (usually on the end of the aisle)
  • Bargain books at Barnes and Nobles from $5 and less
  • Movie rental stores
  • The redemption of rewards at sites such as Swagbucks, MyPoints and credit card reward sites (for example, a gift card that normally takes 1500 points to get could be on clearance for 950 points)
  • Meat section in the grocery store (of course the meats are not expired; they just need to be sold and eaten within the next few days)—I often find great meat for 50% off and if I don’t use it right away, I freeze it right away
  • Animal shelters typically have a buy-one-get-one-free weekend at least once a year
  • Wal-Mart typically has a permanent clearance aisle, and I have found it near the stationary or the home goods section (and usually close to the front of the store, surprisingly enough)

Where are some places that you have found great clearance items?

Small Signature

Comments

4 Responses to “Where to Find Clearance Items, Even in the Grocery Store”

  1. Kevin
    June 7th, 2010 @ 9:37 am

    I wish there was a discount bin at my local supermarket. I would save soooo much money. I think they give it away to charities though, so I can’t really complain.

    [Reply]

  2. Sandra
    June 7th, 2010 @ 10:11 am

    The grocery part of Target also has some good deals. I hit up every clearance section of Target while I’m there.

    On Nightly News a couple months ago, they had a feature about couponing. This woman groceries rang up to $160 but after coupons her total was 46 cents. I thought that was crazy!!

    [Reply]

  3. Linda
    June 9th, 2010 @ 11:46 am

    I just wanted to point out how great the dollar store can be. We’re not in there every week but for some what consumable house hold items (i.e. sponges, kitchen stuff, bathroom stuff) you can save 5-10 times what it might cost at your grocery or drug store.

    Just a great tip we’ve been using to save a few bucks each month.

    [Reply]

  4. Budgeting in the Fun Stuff
    June 10th, 2010 @ 4:02 pm

    I love the clearance bins for candy. I will buy candy one way or another every couple of months, so I love finding the things I like for half price after holidays (even if they are funny colors).

    [Reply]

Leave a Reply





CommentLuv badge

Notify me of followup comments via e-mail. You can also subscribe without commenting.


Previous article: «
Next article: »