Have you ever wondered how some people can repeatedly score great deals? Well I am going to share a secret: To find great deals, it is less about knowing where to shop and more about knowing when to shop. To get the best grocery deals, you need to know what is in season so you can look for rock-bottom prices on those items. To get the best deals on clothing, household items, and groceries you need to make the most of the department and grocery store’s sale cycles.
What to Buy in March – The March Money Saving Guide
Items you’ll find on clearance in March:
Take inventory of your winter clothing and note what will need to be replaced next year. Keep a list of the needed clothing items and sizes in your purse, so when you find a good clearance sale, you will know exactly what you need.
- winter clothes
- shoes
- coats
- linens
- blankets
- hats
- gloves
- scarves
- snow play apparel
- March 18th – St. Pat’s Day (T-Shirts, shot glasses, decorations etc) If you’re big into this holiday buy on clearance 3/18 for next year
Items you’ll find on sale in March:
- Broth-Soups
- Winter clearance boots and shoes on deep discount, linens, coats, blankets (use as needed or tuck away for next year)
- Fish & seafood on sale (from Lenten season – here is a collection of fish recipes)
- Ham for Easter (purchase 1 extra & freeze for April)
- Frozen Foods (National Frozen foods month make room in freezer)
- Wood or pellet stoves for heating (due to end of winter clearing out)
- Corned beef buy extra on sale to make in April and May (week of St. Pat’s day) My “buy” price is 99¢ lb to $2.19 lb
- Cabbage, carrots, eggs (buy several dozen eggs & make creative recipes – eggs last for several weeks just check expiration dates)
- Seeds to garden
- Canned foods
Groceries you’ll find on sale in March:
Consider rotating some of these in-season fruits and veggies into your menu to save money on groceries.
- asparagus
- avocado artichokes
- broccoli cauliflower
- Brussels sprouts
- cabbages
- chard
- celery
- leeks
- collard/mustard greens
- fava beans
- chicories-radicchio
- sunchokes
- spring garlic spring onion
- lemon
- blood oranges
- red grapefruit
- tangerines navel orange
- kiwi
- d’anjou pear
- strawberries
Start Planning in March for the Summer:
- Re-evaluate vacation fund savings & increase or decrease as needed for summer vacations, write to National Park Service (for campers) or Chamber of Commerce or Visitors centers for brochures and ideas for free things to see and do on your summer vacation. Don’t have the funds for a vacation? Consider planning a staycation instead.
- Discuss plans to start a garden next month (even if it’s just a container garden on your patio)
- Shop 2 grocery stores twice a month – 1 for the main bulk of your shopping & the other to run in for deeply discounted sale items only
- Stock up on Corned Beef when it is on sale and put a few in your freezer to enjoy later.
- When you find hams on sale (for Easter) purchase the largest ham you can find and plan at least 3 meals with the leftovers then freeze one of the meals to pull out on a busy night when you have no time to cook. (Remember leftovers doesn’t mean eating the same thing the next night. Here is a collection of recipes to use up leftover ham).
- Sign up for freecycle.org to get or give good used items in your community
National Holidays in March:
- National Frozen Foods Month
- March 8th Daylight Savings Time Begins ( Here are 10 Things to do when you move your clock forward.)
- March 17th St. Patrick’s Day
- March 20th 1st Day of Spring
Do you have any other suggestions for saving money in March?
More Money Saving Tips
- How to Get Started Couponing
- 10 Secrets of Frugal Shoppers
- Money Saving Tips from the Depression Era
- How to Avoid Supermarket Spending Traps
- 10 Ways to Save on Groceries without Using Coupons
Thanks to Maggie at Family Frugal Fun and Lori of More with Less Today for helping me pull this information together.
DB-The Foodie Stuntman @ Crazy Foodie Stunts says
Thank you for this list! I always have trouble determining what’s in season.
Kristi says
Snow blowers also, as they start to make room for lawn gear. 🙂
Judy @Savoring Today says
Great post! Thanks for the heads-up. 🙂
Barb @ Frugal Local Kitchen says
I love it! I know there are good times to buy stuff marked down yet, I forget to anticipate my needs and shop at those times to save money.
I also love the seasonal produce list. As part of my project to take better control of my food budget starting this month, I’m updating my price book. Now I’ll include a notation about seasonal produce to remind myself to stock up when certain items are in season.
I’m also creating goals and a plan in the kitchen each month which I’ll post at the beginning of the month. I want to get back into making bread. I want to try making fermented foods. I also need to plan time for canning and preserving foods.
Can you tell I’m really excited you started this series?
Jill says
You always have wonderful posts with great ideas! Thanks for sharing such useful information 🙂 Have a lovely weekend!
Blessings,
Jill
mub says
What a good idea to have everything listed by month!!
It does pay to wait until things are going “out of season.” I managed to score a pair of halfway decent snowboots for myself marked down from $95 to $20 the other day.
Alea says
That is a good deal!
Dawn B. aka "The Ringmaster of the Circus" says
I love this feature! I have been thinking that I need to purchase raingear for my kindergartener-to-be, and I realized, thanks to your post, now is the time to do it! (Living in So. Cal, we don’t have much use for snow gear, but we have lots of use for raingear!) Thanks and have a great day!
Alea says
That is a great point – winter clothing really varies from region to region.
Pauline Wiles says
The seasonal produce and planning ahead tips are great, thank you. I do fancy a nice Easter ham!