In my opinion, the best and most practical ways to save money are also the simplest ones. The more complex the money-saving method, the less likely I am to use it. For instance, I got really into couponing several years ago, but I just didn’t have the stamina to keep at it. All of the planning and clipping and calculating just took too much time and effort!
But if there is a way to save money that is straightforward and easy enough to remember, I’m all over it! And I’m happy to report that I have just such a money-saving tip to share with you today! The idea is simple: plan your purchases for the day of the week when prices will be at their lowest. And today I’ll be sharing specifics on the cheapest days of the week to do or buy 9 common things!
The Cheapest Days Of The Week To Make 9 Common Purchases
1. Going Out To Eat
Tuesday is a great day to take the family out for a meal. That’s because several restaurant chains offer “kids eat free” deals on Tuesday nights! Check with your local Applebee’s, Denny’s, and Chick-fil-A to see if they offer deals for kids.
2. Flying
The next time you need to buy a plane ticket, consider booking a flight on a Tuesday or a Wednesday. These are typically the cheapest days to fly. It may require a bit of planning, but you can save an average of $73 per flight this way!
3. Going To The Movies
Tuesdays are typically the slowest day for movie theaters. To compensate, many theaters offer special deals on Tuesdays to draw people in. Popular deals include $5 admission and 50% off popcorn. Check with your local theaters to see if they offer any special daily deals.
4. Booking A Hotel
If you need to book a hotel stay, try to do it on a Friday or Saturday. Hotel room prices are typically at their lowest over the weekend. Why? It’s because most people plan their weekend trips during the week, meaning fewer people are actually booking on the weekends.
5. Staying In A Hotel
The cheapest day to check-in for a hotel stay is Sunday. Checking in at the start of the weekend is almost guaranteed to be much more expensive.
6. Buying Groceries
For the best deals on groceries, plan your shopping trip for Wednesday or Thursday. These are often the cheapest days to shop. And as an added bonus, these days are usually less busy too!
Related: 10 Genius Ways To Make Grocery Shopping Easier
7. Buying A Car
Looking for a new car? You can research and do test drives any day of the week, but wait for Monday to actually make the purchase. Buying a car on a Monday could save you an average of 8% overall!
8. Filling Up The Car
If you can time it right, it’s best to fill your car with gas on Monday mornings. Gas prices are typically lower earlier in the week, and go up as the week progresses. Thursday and Friday are the most expensive days to fill up.
9. Going Shopping
Looking for the best day to hit the mall? You’ll find the best deals over the weekend. (But while the deals may be easy to find, parking spaces may be hard to come by!)
Do you time any of your purchases for a certain day of the week?
Our goodwill and thrift stores usually have a tag color that is half price for the week. For us it changes on Fridays, so Friday there are most of the tags of that color on sale. Since our goodwill is often stocked with things that were overstocked or returned to target, Friday mornings has become my go to date. Ours also honors half price the color tags from the previous week on the day they change the half off color over. Your dates and policies may vary but it’s a fun scavenger hunt
My grocery store offers a 10% discount the first Wednesday of every month for the over 55 crowd!
How to remove gum on clothing?
Dip a toothbrush in laundry detergent and give it a good scrub!
You can add Taco Tuesday to #1. A lot of Mexican restaurants have reduced priced tacos on Tuesdays.
I have been reading all your fantastic ideas for well over a year. Thank you.
May you and your family have wonderful, fun healthy holidays
Thanks MJ! Happy Holidays!
Interesting post. Regarding hotel stays, it has always been our experience that when booking a hotel room, the prices are generally higher to stay through the weekend. Can’t remember what day we were booking, but if we stayed M-F, the prices were much better (per room cost) than if we wanted to stay through the weekend. I realize you mentioned doing the booking on a Friday or Saturday and do the actual check in on Sunday. It can get pretty tricky to get the best deals!!!
Jillie. Can you address the topic of shower curtain rods? Like, how to install them and how to select the right shape for your bathtub. And also how to clean them when rusty and how to easily replace them. I have a tub that is quite curved on the inside and straight flat on the outside and I cannot figure out how to put a shower curtain to properly hold the shower water. I put a double rod but it was quite the heavyweight so my husband said it had to ne screwed into a stud. This placed the shower… Read more »
I’d love to help Judy! What do you mean when you say you need the curtain to “hold the shower water?” The shower curtain should be pretty lightweight – is there something else hanging from the rod?
If you shop at Sprouts, they have double ad Wednesday. Which means Wednesday may not be the least crowded, but if you missed last week you get a second chance this week.
Muy bueno