Jill Cataldo

You never know what you might find while clearance shopping, but this weekend, Meijer has been good! I went over to check out the new sales and spotted some great clearances at the Algonquin Meijer...

Near the back of the store, there was an entire endcap of high-threadcount bedsheets on clearance for bargain prices -- 75% off!

Full, Queen and King-size sets ranged in price from $10-$20, in 100% cotton, 300, 400, and 600 thread count. I picked up three sets for our King bed: a 300-count for $11.25, a 400-count for $15, and a 600-count for $17.50. The regular prices for these sheets were $44.99 to $70.

As I touched on in Monday's Deals of the Week post, it's been a great week for clearance toy and clothes shopping all over town! Hope you've all been out bargain-hunting and enjoying your finds!

As I discuss at great length in my Super-Couponing classes, both January and late July/early August are when many stores slash prices on both toys and clothing. On Sunday, we picked up some clothes at the Old Navy 50% off clearance summer sale. Not all Old Navy stores dropped (it's not quite like the January Old Navy clearance where every single store drops at the same time) but Algonquin's clearance was running, and my husband got some nice work shirts in the under-$3 range, as well as a $1.97 shirts for our boys. Many readers posted reports of $2 swim trunks and children's clothes too.

If you're planning a trip to Kmart to take advantage of their double coupon promotion this week, you may want to check out the winter clothing clearance going on too. Winter clearance clothes (man, woman, and child) have dropped to $1.99 each, already a fabulous price -- but if you printed a $10-off-$20 coupon for Kmart when they were available, you'll be able to do really well with this sale.

In my Super-Couponing 2 class, I talk about the yearly, seasonal clothing clearances and the times of the year in which they happen -- it's a great way to buy ahead of our needs for next season or next year, at fantastic savings.

Here's what I bought today for my sons at $1.99 each (pre-coupon):

5 pairs Disney blue jeans
2 pairs Basic Edition cargo pants
2 Route 66 long-sleeve shirts
1 Basic Edition long-sleeve flannel shirt
1 two-pair set of NASCAR pajamas (my favorite find... and theirs! Two pairs of 100% cotton pajamas for $1.99 BEFORE coupons? Oh yes.)

It's here! Each year in January, Old Navy reduces their already-marked-down clearance prices by half. Things are ridiculously cheap -- think $7 winter coats, $4 jeans, and kids' clothes under $1!

Old Navy opens at 9:30am... and don't forget your $10 off $50 coupon! (Thanks to Alice in our forum for finding it!)

Just as the after-Christmas sales have ended, and many of us have stocked up on holiday gear for next year...along come the clothing and toy sales. If you've taken my Super-Couponing 2 class, you know that January is my favorite month of the year to shop for clothes and toys!

Today I embarked on a shopping adventure that began at Old Navy for their 50% off clearance sale and ended at Target's 75% off toy sale...

This morning, numerous Target stores around Chicagoland dropped their Christmas toy overstock to 75% off! I do the majority of my toy shopping for next Christmas right now, in January, during these toy clearances. So can you! :)

Tuesday morning on WGN News, Ana Belaval's "Around Town" segment focused on how to get the best toy savings during AFTER Christmas shopping! Ana and I first went through my toy stash purchased last year after the holidays, and then we went to a local store to compare prices on the same toys: