Memorial Day Sales 2018: What to Buy (and What to Skip)

Memorial Day not only signals the unofficial start of summer, but it's also the first of the major holiday shopping weekends to occur during the warm-weather months.

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Memorial Day not only signals the unofficial start of summer, but it's also the first of the major holiday shopping weekends to occur during the warm-weather months. (Independence Day and Labor Day are the other biggies.) Shoppers who plan to take advantage of Memorial Day sales will want to make sure they've signed up for deal alerts from their favorite retailers so they don't miss out on coveted items, recommends smart shopping expert Trae Bodge of TrueTrae.com.

And while the deals will be plentiful -- on everything from mattresses to appliances -- there are some items you'll want to avoid. A big reason: Many of the items will be even cheaper later in the year, Bodge notes. We talked with savings experts to find out which products are worth buying over Memorial Day Weekend and which you should keep on your shopping wishlist for now. Here's what we found.

Andrea Browne Taylor
Contributing Editor

Browne Taylor joined Kiplinger in 2011 and was a channel editor for Kiplinger.com covering living and family finance topics. She previously worked at the Washington Post as a Web producer in the Style section and prior to that covered the Jobs, Cars and Real Estate sections. She earned a BA in journalism from Howard University in Washington, D.C. She is Director of Member Services, at the National Association of Home Builders.