Savvy Shopper

We wanted to share a great discovery of this year's discounts with our readers. Fewer and fewer stores have good clearance discounts at the end of the year, but Kohl's is one that still does, and we LOVE the prices!

Kohl's has good quality brands to begin with, and can be a little pricey to start. But their end-of-year discounts are mostly in the 70% to 90% off range, making many of the clothes ridiculously inexpensive. You can buy very nice quality t-shirts, sweaters, skirts, slacks, and much more for less than you would expect for low-end merchandise at a discount store.

Right now is the time to take stock of your wardrobe, go in with an open mind, and especially consider things you will need throughout the year. It's a good time to stock up on t-shirts or other things you may wear often.

We purchased a number of very nice quality men's t-shirts for about $2 each, and a pair of Docker's slacks for $3.50. I also bought some blouses I absolutely loved for $2 to $6 each. My favorite was a long, thick, thirsty terry robe that is SOOOOO soft and warm for $9.

Other departments have similar sales as well. I now have that set of flannel sheets I've always wanted and I can now say that a high-quality set of flannel sheets are very welcoming, soft, and warm. I don't know when I've ever slept so comfortably. I also purchased new washcloths for my home, again very high quality with well-sewn edges and trimmed in alternating colors for less than I paid for the lowest-priced quantity package of "cheapie" ones at Wal-Mart. The Wal-mart cloths and all my old washcloths are now in the "cleaning rag" stack in the linen closet while the Kohl's cloths are pampering us in style.

And Kohl's also has a variety of incentives for extra savings. We don't do this often, because it's not a good idea from a personal finance standpoint to have too many credit cards, but this time we took advantage of the 10% savings as a reward for applying. By the way, Kohl's gives the 10% discount even if you fail to qualify for a card. I purchased almost $350 worth of clothing and home linens on that trip and spent about $40 total to pay for them. There were about a dozen shirts, a robe, two dozen washcloths, slacks, shorts, and more.

Speaking of a Kohl's credit card, if you apply for one, they also send you coupons to use in-store or online periodically. You can expect 10% or 15% off your total purchase and similar discounts. Kohl's also has an online site where the clearance sale is also going on. They offer various shipping discounts from time to time, which if you register online you will receive email notifications of these. So far I have seen windows of free shipping and 99 cent shipping. The great thing about ordering online (when you can take advantage of these shipping discounts) are the discount codes. The main disadvantage of shopping online is that their clearance section is almost cleared out, while the retail store near me still has many racks upon racks.

I ordered from the clearance section online, searched for coupon codes, and discovered one listed at a site for 15% off. (I found it at RetailMeNot.com) What surprised me is that Kohl's allowed it to be combined with the discount offered for using my credit card, which was ANOTHER 15%. Amazingly, you can purchase online (whether regular, sale price, or clearance merchandise) and get reduced shipping AND 30% off your total if you pay with a Kohl's credit card. Discounts like these are few and far between, so we wanted to share them as part of Savvy Shopper ... that's about as savvy as you can get!