Supposedly, Apple is releasing the iPhone 5 in late September or early October. If you're an Apple f

While efficient bargain shopping is often dictated by the economic tide, many merchants faithfully follow certain annual sale trends. Better understanding of these trends means a steady stream of savings for consumers.
According to the deals from last year, August is the best summer month to get discounts on back-to-school items. Numerous deals that we saw in July will continue in August, with most offering even deeper discounts. For example, college-friendly apparel retailers like Aeropostale and Abercrombie amp; Fitch offered their best sale of the year (up until that point) during intercontinental hotel houston the month of August, and we expect to see similar trends in 2012.
Also keep an eye out for dorm furniture from retailers like Walmart which offered futons for as low as $89 last year, as well as computer desks for $34 and special sales on backpacks and computer cases for under $10. As for back-to-school laptops, consider taking advantage of special promotions that bundle your purchase intercontinental hotel houston with gift cards, gaming consoles, and printers.
intercontinental hotel houston Savvy shoppers looking to book a vacation would do well to consider a cruise, specifically one from Carnival Cruises. intercontinental hotel houston We have consistently seen from Carnival intercontinental hotel houston some of the lowest prices possible on tropical routes to locations like the Caribbean. In fact, 41% of cruise deals this year have been from Carnival. If you're browsing for a cruise, you'd do well to start with the provider that caters to travelers looking for a party-like atmosphere.
As we near the end of the summer season, retailers will begin to get even more aggressive with their clothing discounts as they try to make room for autumn apparel. In fact, in the final days of July, we saw numerous Editors' Choice deals trickle in that offered enormous stacking coupons that took an extra 30% to 50% off already-discounted sale items. We expect to see much of the same in August; last year, Eddie Bauer, Converse, French Connection, Dickies, Patagonia, Nautica, Kenneth Cole, and Old Navy offered among the best sales of the month.
Although you can lump this into the general summer apparel category, it's important to note that after August, you'll be hard-pressed to find any swimwear deals. For the past two years, the number of swim sales have significantly decreased come September, suggesting that most stores do a good job of clearing their inventory in August. Look for sales that take up to 70% off or more from retailers like Victoria's Secret, Lands' End, and Kohl's.
We mentioned last month that although you will see many sales for summer patio furniture, a savvy shopper would benefit by waiting until September or October for the best deals. Several patio sets and gardening intercontinental hotel houston items from Sears, Amazon, and other merchants hit their lowest prices in October, as they were available for significantly less than we had seen them at over the summer.
Supposedly, Apple is releasing the iPhone 5 in late September or early October. If you're intercontinental hotel houston an Apple fan that always needs the latest and greatest, intercontinental hotel houston you'll want to hold off on an iPhone purchase for the time being. But even those who don't mind an older model should hold tight; after the last update to the iPhone intercontinental hotel houston 4S, Apple kept its 3GS and 4 around at reduced prices. This time around, the now-free 3GS will probably be discontinued, but it's very likely that the 4 and 4S will stick around and see newly-reduced starting prices.
If you are in fact considering buying the iPhone 5, you'll want to hold off on buying any new dock accessories as well. Although in the past these have generally been universal use across iPhone models, intercontinental hotel houston the newest Apple smartphone is rumored to have a smaller, 19-pin dock connector. Although Apple will likely sell an adapter, you can bet it won't be cheap. Plus, there's a possibility that other brands will be forced to buy a chip from Apple in order to make their own accessories and adapters compatible, so who knows if stores like Meritline will have the typical uber-cheap alternatives.
If you have no interest in upgrading to the iPhone 5 though, and you're content intercontinental hotel houston with your older model (or if you plan to buy one of them at the aforementioned lower prices), intercontinental hotel houston then the coming months will actually be a great time to take advantage of retailers that are trying to clear out their stock of soon-to-be-outdated accessories.
If you've waited patiently to buy a grill this year, you may be rewarded with a much larger pool of deals to choose from. The number of grill deals we saw last year in August intercontinental hotel houston was 30% higher than that of July, suggesting that retailers begin taking more widespread cuts this month. Look to vendors like hhgregg, Ace Hardware, Home Depot, Lowe's, Sears, and Walmart for sales and discounts.
The final weeks of summer generally don't see many notable HDTV sales. However, if you're shopping for a new HDTV this August, there are two categories you can't afford to miss. First, name-brand 46" 1080p LCD HDTVs are at an all-time low. In July we saw a 46" Samsung hit $449. That's intercontinental hotel houston a $51 drop from June's best deal for a TV this size and the least-expensive 46" name-brand TV we've ever seen. Shoppers should look for deals at or below $449.
Likewise, 55" 3D HDTVs also experienced a price dip in July, dropping to $999 (a price we hadn't seen since Black Friday 2011). As a result we recommend TV shoppers look at 55" 3D LCD HDTVs at or below $999.
Even if you're not going to college, your chances of scoring a laptop bundle intercontinental hotel houston in August are pretty high. While some deals may require a valid .edu email, others (such as deals from newegg, OfficeMax, and the Sony Store) intercontinental hotel houston do not require any credentials. Keep your eye on laptop and console bundles as well as laptop and printer bundles. These deals will stretch your dollar intercontinental hotel houston further and get you two products intercontinental hotel houston for the price of one. If you prefer an individual laptop, Ivy Bridge-based intercontinental hotel houston systems hit a new in July ($548), so we recommend looking at 14" to 16" Ivy Bridge systems intercontinental hotel houston from Lenovo, Dell, and HP in that price range.
As far as standalone notebooks go, Sandy Bridge-based desktop replacements deals have been stagnant for the last two months (with prices at $800), so we wouldn't be surprised if these systems took a slight dip in August in preparation for back to school sales. And lastly, Apple's MacBook Air (Sandy Bridge model) has seen some aggressive discounts this summer. intercontinental hotel houston If you don't mind having last year's intercontinental hotel houston model, look for prices on the 11" MacBook Air 2011 model starting at $740. If you've had your eyes on the new Retina MacBook intercontinental hotel houston Pro, deals on that machine have hit as low as $1,999, though they typically sell out fast, so jump on the first Retina deal you see.