Grill

It's easy to know that you're getting the best deal around when shopping through dealnews, but sometimes you want to plan for purchases in advance. So to help you out, we've mined our archives of product prices, sales, and coupons to see what consumer goods are best buys throughout the month of May.

While every month features its own unique deal fluctuations, we often see overlap across months, especially when they fall within the same season. As such, some of the advice for May might sound familiar if you've diligently followed the April guide. That said, May has some unique shopping characteristics to take note of, like stellar Memorial Day sales later this month. So dive in and brush up on the best and worst things to buy in May.Read more

Winter is thawing out, and spring is upon us. So what's a good buy in April, and what should you hold off on buying?

Cruises
Typically, April is a good month for cruises. But we discovered last month that cruise prices in general have been dropping when compared to last year, likely due to the industry's tumultuous string of recent public disasters. In fact, when compared to similar cruise deals from this time last year, 2012's offers are as much as 11 percent less. And we have continued to see an increase in the sheer number of cruise deals as well, making it still a good time (price-wise) to look into a vacation on the seas.

Spring Apparel… Almost
The general rule of thumb is to wait about two months after a new line of apparel hits stores to start seeing some of the better discounts. Many retailers began to debut their spring merchandise in late January and February, so that places April at about the two-month mark for some. Look closely at the discounts though: a spring sale that takes 30 to 40 percent off is still a mid-season promotion; you'll want a sale that takes at least 50 percent off or more, and if you can hold steady for a stacking coupon code, all the better. If you truly want the lowest prices — which of course comes with reduced selection — you'll likely want to wait until May.Read more

Shopping in May is a conundrum: What kind of prices can consumers expect when looking for seasonal items like grills, swimsuits and bikes? Conventional wisdom would tell you one thing about your chances of getting a deal on these eight items in May, while data from dealnews will tell you the real answer.

Is now the best time to buy, or should you wait? Here are the best strategies for eight key seasonal categories in May:

Grills and BBQ
If you see advice out there that says the best time to buy grills is May, before the season, or September, after the season, think again. We've actually seen prices on grills remain fairly flat over the course of a season, and over the past several years. In fact, Walmart has been offering the same Uniflame 40,000 BTU Propane Gas Grill for the past three years, with the price only going from $127 to $115 (and is now $118). The same goes for Brinkman, Char-Broil and other top brands at top merchants. If you're looking to buy a grill, the best thing you can do is wait for a storewide 10% or 20% off sale at a store like Sears, Home Depot or Lowe's. If you're looking for BBQ accessories like meat thermometers, tools and brushes, it's best to look for special offers from a daily deal site like 13deals.com, which seem to be abundant in May.Read more