Most of the time you’re better off planning ahead if you want to save some money. However, there are some things that you can still do late and get a deal for waiting longer to do it. This is my top three things you can do late.
1- Tickets to a show or event
Shows don’t want any empty seats. An empty seat is lost money. They would rather sell you a discounted ticket than no ticket at all. So you should take advantage of this fact. Obviously, there are some shows that sell out and then you’re just out of luck, but if you can be spontaneous with your choices you can score some deals.
With sporting events you should check the deals a day or two before the game for some of the best deals. If you’re looking for concert or theater shows then you should go the day of the show and check the box office for empty seats. Make sure you ask them about any discount last minute tickets left for the empty seats. Let them know that you’re looking last minute to save some money otherwise they might not mention a lower price.
2- Your hotel room
If you can stomach not knowing where you’re going to sleep for the night then you can score some discounts on hotel rooms. Just like shows or events, hotels don’t want empty rooms. They would rather fill them and make some money.
There’s all sorts of websites and apps you can use these days that can help you find a good hotel room for a discount. This article written by USA today has some great options including JetSetter and Hotel Tonight. A good rule of thumb is that hotels usually have more vacancies on weeknights and Sundays. Also, the more expensive hotels don’t fill up as fast as the cheaper ones so check those first.
3- Your gifts for Christmas
If you’re really got a planning and looking for deals then you’re going to get the best deals for Christmas presents when you buy them well ahead of time. I don’t mean Black Friday when I say ahead of time. I mean throughout the year buying the deals and holding on to them until Christmas.
A lot of us don’t do that though. If you’re a last minute shopper then you’ll be happy to know that you can snag some of the best deals the week before Christmas. If you can’t get in on Black Friday or Cyber Monday then your best best is to wait until the last week to find the best prices.
For some things the best deals don’t come until you’re closer to Christmas anyway. Things like Christmas themed products get bigger discounts in this last week. Be patient and go late for stuff like this.
It’s not only Christmas stuff that gets discounted though. You can find a host of different items moved to the clearance aisles at department stores and drugstores alike in hopes of clearing things out before the new year. You really just have to go look and see what they’re trying to get rid of. You might get really lucky and find something great on the cheap.