Best and Worst Buys of May 2014
You'll see deep discounts on spring clothing, mattresses and more this month.
May is a great month to find plenty of items on sale, especially during Memorial Day sales. However, you should hold off on the purchase of some items for a few months because their prices will drop. Here's what you can expect to find discounted this month, and what you should wait a little longer to buy.
What's on sale now ...
Camping gear. Retailers offer great prices on camping and outdoor equipment -- including tents, air mattresses and other accessories -- this month, according to RetailMeNot. Outdoor gear retailer REI usually has its biggest sale of the year over Memorial Day weekend. In the past, it's offered discounts of 30% on camping gear.
Clothing. Retailers started marking down spring apparel in April, but the discounts will be even better this month -- especially during Memorial Day sales, according to dealnews.com. Look for mark downs of 50% or more and coupons to get even more off your purchase price.
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Mattresses. May is one of the best times of the year to get a deeply discounted mattress, according to CreditDonkey.com. Last year, retailers such as Sears offered discounts of up to 60% on mattresses during Memorial Day sales.
Microsoft Windows 8 computers. Microsoft ended its support for its popular Windows XP operating system on April 8. So to tempt people to upgrade to its new operating system, Microsoft is offering $100 off select Windows 8 computers priced more than $599 and will help transfer data from your XP computer for free.
Outdoor items. Several retailers have sales on outdoor items over the long Memorial Day weekend. Lowe's already is having what it's calling a spring Black Friday sale on lawn and garden items, such as plants, mulch, soil, fertilizer, and outdoor tools and equipment. Home Depot also is having a sale on these items. These home-improvement stores, as well as furniture stores, usually mark down patio furniture by as much as 50% during Memorial Days sales. (If you can hold off on patio furniture purchases, though, you'll find even deeper discounts at the end of summer.)
Wait a little longer to buy ...
Apple products. Dealnews.com recommends holding off on MacBook Air, MacBook Pro or other Apple device purchases until after the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference in June. The company may debut new models, so prices on current ones will drop.
Grills. You'll likely see sales on grills this month but you'll see much better deals later in the summer, according to CreditDonkey.com.
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