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" A New Car Auto manufacturers roll out new models in October, so dealerships make room by discounting older stock in late summer. According to Phil Reed, consumer advice editor for Edmunds.com, September shoppers can save up to $2,000 with very little negotiating--as little as, &amp;quot;I&amp;#039;m taking last year&amp;#039;s model off of your hands, and I need a better price; what can you do?&amp;quot;   SAVE ANYTIME SECRET: To score a deal on new wheels any time of year, ask your dealer about &amp;quot;program cars,&amp;quot; which are driven by sales staff for up to 10,000 miles and are kept in tip-top shape by the dealership, then sold at a steep discount. Or visit carbargains.com. You plug in your desired make and model, pay them $190, and they&amp;#039;ll haggle for you--getting competitive bids from five local dealers--and you save up to $3,000.  But I Need It This Minute!: Gas  COMPARISON SHOP.Gas Price Watch and Gas Buddy publish current gas prices for thousands of stations nationwide. Bargain-hunting can save up to 8 cents a gallon--$1.28 on a typical 16-gallon tank--for each fill-up.  SAVE ON THE ROAD. Away from home? Gas Price Watch also lets you text your current zip code to gas@fuelgo.com, and they&amp;#039;ll reply with the names and addresses of the cheapest local stations.   DRIVE SMART. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, the way we drive and care for our cars seriously affects our fuel efficiency. Try this: Drive below 60 mph (boosts fuel efficiency up to 23 percent, saving you $240 per year); avoid rapidly braking or accelerating (boosts efficiency up to 33 percent, saving you $330 per year); keep your engine tuned (boosts efficiency up to 40 percent, saving you $375 per year); lay off the AC (boosts efficiency up to 20 percent at speeds up to 40 mph-- anything faster and the open windows cause fuel-wasting drag--saving you up to $137 per year).  HOOF IT. Over 60 percent of car trips taken in 2005 were under a mile. If we walked or biked instead, we&amp;#039;d save 1.4 million gallons of gas and $3.7 million a day. You save $7 a year (and the planet).  CHARGE IT. You&amp;#039;ll get 5 percent back on your gas purchases with the Discover Platinum Gas Card, and the Chase Cash Plus credit card gives you 5 percent back on gas and groceries (neither charges an annual fee and there&amp;#039;s no APR for the first year). Since the average family spends $400 a month on gas, says Brad Procter, founder of Gaspricewatch .com, you save $20 a month. A New House Back-to-school season can mean deep discounts on homes: Sellers whose children have started school elsewhere will be motivated to unload properties that didn&amp;#039;t sell over the summer, according to the National Association of Realtors. So pay extra attention to houses that have kids&amp;#039; rooms. The housing market also typically cools with the weather--the average selling price in September &amp;#039;05 was $4,000 less than the August &amp;#039;05 average. Home shopping isn&amp;#039;t an exact science, but waiting for the fall could save thousands. You save up to $4,000.  But I Need It This Minute!: Lower Energy Bills  REDUCE YOUR WATER TEMPERATURE, says Mary Hunt, creator of Debtproofliving.com. Hot-water heaters are typically set at 140 degrees (look for a temperature dial like your oven&amp;#039;s), but 120 degrees is sufficient for killing bacteria everywhere but your dishwasher--and most modern dishwashers heat their own water anyway. You shave off 3 percent of your monthly bill for every five degrees you lower the temperature, says Hunt. According to the Energy Information Administration, the average monthly electric bill is $73, so you save around $9 a month.  CHECK YOUR THERMOSTAT. For every degree you raise the temperature in summer and lower it in winter, you&amp;#039;ll save 1 percent on your monthly bill. Keeping the house five degrees warmer or cooler can save around $4 a month.  PUT YOUR WATER HEATER ON A TIMER. You can turn it off during the day and night when you&amp;#039;re either away from home or sleeping. Get a timer at any home-improvement store and ask your electrician to install it. Using heated water for five hours instead of 24 can save you up to $20 a month.  REPLACE INCANDESCENT BULBS WITH FLUORESCENT ONES. Fluorescent bulbs are a bit more expensive (about $6 to $7 each versus $1), but last up to seven years and cast a more flattering glow than they used to. Over its lifetime, a typical fluorescent bulb will save you over $50 in replacement and electricity costs. Outdoor Plants Come fall, nurseries (especially those up north) discount stock that won&amp;#039;t survive the winter unplanted, says Charlie Nardozzi, senior horticulturist for the National Gardening Association. Choose hearty deciduous trees (maples, birches, elms, oaks) and shrubs, which sell for up to 20 percent off. But get them into the ground stat--they thrive in the ground, not in your garage. The average American spends $400 a year on DIY landscaping, so you save up to $80.  Kids&amp;#039; Summer Camp September is the best time to sign up, says Jeff Solomon, executive director of the National Camp Association. Pay in advance for next summer and you can avoid the typical 5 percent to 10 percent tuition hike by capitalizing on the &amp;quot;early enrollment discount,&amp;quot; usually last year&amp;#039;s price. Ask about it when you pick your kids up this summer. Sleepaway camps cost anywhere from $400 to $1,200 a week, so you save $80 to $480 on a four-week session.  A Trip to Orlando Travel to Orlando, FL, slows in the fall, so snag a package deal. And Orlando isn&amp;#039;t just theme parks and kid stuff--there are celebrity-chef restaurants, spas, and more. You can save 40 percent on a two-night golf package at the Ritz-Carlton that includes two rounds of golf on an awardwinning course (for other packages, check out &amp;quot;Fabulous Fall&amp;quot; deals at from the Orlando Travel and Visitors Bureau). You save $325.  SAVE-ANYTIME SECRET: No matter where you go on vacation, or when, book your flights on Tuesday night and Wednesday morning (making your reservations then ensures that you&amp;#039;ll get the lowest price available), book your rental cars on Saturday, and snag a great hotel-room deal on Sunday afternoon, according to Peter Greenberg, author of The Travel Detective.  Health Insurance November is open-enrollment season for insurance providers and the time to reconfigure your plan&amp;#039;s details. To save, increase your deductible (what you must pay out of pocket before insurance kicks in), says Kim Lankford, author of The Insurance Maze. Why raise it? The higher your deductible, the lower your monthly payments-- if, say, you need only an office visit and a prescription this year, you&amp;#039;ll waste hundreds on monthly contributions. Increasing your deductible by $500 could decrease your premium by up to that much (check with your insurance company for the exact amount). And, if your deductible is $1,050 or more for just you or $2,100 for a family, you qualify for a health savings account, which has many tax and savings benefits. You can contribute up to the amount of your deductible pretax.  Plus, spending the money on health costs means you won&amp;#039;t be taxed on the interest! Find out more about these accounts. You save up to $500. Medical Expenses Even people with great insurance from their jobs spend a lot out of pocket on health-care costs--about $655 a year, according to the Commonwealth Fund, a nonprofi t health-care research group. Instead of running to the ER with a sprained ankle or sore throat (an average routine ER visit costs $302), head to a walk-in clinic at CVS, Target, or Walgreens. Visits are usually less than $60, so you save up to $242. Also, check out healthgrades.com, which estimates regional prices for procedures from gastric bypass to angioplasty, then negotiate with either your doctor or the hospital&amp;#039;s billing department--yes, really!  You can even try negotiating the price of an office visit. According to a recent study by The Harris Poll, in 61 percent of cases, patients got the discount they asked for. To save on extras, ask for an itemized list for the procedure ahead of time, says Lankford. Those crutches that cost $250 on your bill may only set you back $75 at a medical supply store. You save $175.  Holiday Items The week before Christmas, retailers start discounting decorations, wrapping, and seasonal candy up to 25 percent because they get nervous about postholiday leftovers, says Terry Adams, coauthor of The Bargain Hunter&amp;#039;s and Smart Consumer&amp;#039;s Field Guide. Since the average American household spends $129 on these items alone, according to the National Retail Federation (NRF), you save about $32.  Another way to save big: Don&amp;#039;t buy yourself any presents. The NRF estimates that the average shopper spent about $90 on self-gifts while holiday shopping in 2004. You save $90.  Furniture Post-Christmas is the slowest time for furniture sales, says Jennifer Litwin, author of Best Furniture Buying Tips Ever! Save by shopping in January, buying more than one item, and choosing smaller stores where the owners set the prices (unlike national chains, where salespeople won&amp;#039;t negotiate). Then, ask for 15 percent off. Say something like, &amp;quot;I really love these pieces, but I just can&amp;#039;t pay what you&amp;#039;re asking. Can you give me 15 percent off if I buy them both?&amp;quot; That&amp;#039;s the discount interior designers get, so salespeople shouldn&amp;#039;t flinch, says Litwin. She went undercover while researching her book and was able to get the designer discount 85 percent of the time. Since the average U.S. consumer spent $1,646 on furnishings in 2004, according to the Department of Labor, you save up to $247.  SAVE-ANYTIME SECRET: Check out Furnitureland South. High Point, NC, is a mecca of furniture outlets, but can be hard to navigate if you&amp;#039;re not a professional decorator with contacts in the showrooms. Furnitureland South is one of the biggest and most user-friendly stores and they have a great website, so you don&amp;#039;t have to travel for the bargains.  Another way to save: Buy a $500 sofa at CB2, West Elm, or Ikea and have an upholsterer restuff the foam cushions with Polyfill or down for about $300. You spend $800 on a great new couch that feels like it cost $5,000.  Gym Membership Health clubs capitalize on New Year&amp;#039;s resolutions, so you&amp;#039;ll find deals all over town, says Kristie Spalding of the American Council on Exercise. Check out a few gyms and approach the one you like with the best price you&amp;#039;ve found. Even if they can&amp;#039;t match that number, they might reduce their fees, drop the initiation charge (typically $150), or throw in some free personal training. You save $150 or more. Clothing  WHAT&amp;#039;S ON SALE WHEN  January Winter coats and endof- season fall goods.  February Jewelry.  March Last year&amp;#039;s workout clothes.  April Spring fashions.  May Handbags and shoes.  June Post-Father&amp;#039;s Day gift items.  July Summer clothes.  August Bathing suits. (But hey, full-price is cheap for a suit that fits you perfectly.)  September Coats, gloves, scarves.   October Fall clothes.  November Pre-Thanksgiving sales launch holiday shopping.  December Preholiday, cashmere and leather; postholiday, everything. A Computer New computer models hit stores in February (and again in late summer), so look for deals on older models. You might not get the biggest hard drive or the fastest wireless connection, but you&amp;#039;ll save a bundle--and you&amp;#039;re still getting a cutting-edge machine. Bargain hunter Terry Adams estimates that you can get up to 25 percent off on last year&amp;#039;s models. Since the average laptop cost about $1,100 in 2005, you save $275.  A Television New models hit stores in spring, and April is an especially good time to save on last year&amp;#039;s coolest set. The fiscal year for many large Japanese television manufacturers ends in March, so those companies start refreshing merchandise in April, says Stephen Baker of the NPD Group, a market research firm. The average price for new televisions is a steep $530; look for discounts of up to 20 percent off and you save over $100.  But I Need It This Minute!: EntertainmentDATE NIGHTS At entertainment .com, you&amp;#039;ll find half-off coupons for local attractions.  And save on your next great meal at restaurant.com. Here, you can search by name and location, and for $10, you can buy a $25 dining certificate good at more than 7,000 establishments. You save $15 per meal.  BOOKS Check out books free.com, which is like a literary Netflix. Make a list from more than 74,000 paperback titles, and for $8.50 a month, you get two at a time. Whenever you finish one book, return it in the prepaid mailer and immediately get the next available title on your list. Annually, you&amp;#039;re only spending $102 for all the books you can read, when the average bookbuying family spent about $186 last year on 19 new titles. You save $84 per year. Remodeling Winter is the slow season for contractors, so they&amp;#039;ll be more likely to negotiate prices for jobs that can be booked and completed this month, says Angie Hicks, creator of Angieslist.com, a website that ranks local contractors. (The upswing hits in spring when homeowners get their tax refunds.) When you&amp;#039;re negotiating with a contractor, ask for a discount. Stress that you&amp;#039;ll be flexible since he may have to work around bad weather. You could save 5 percent to 10 percent. Since the average mid-range remodeled bathroom costs $10,500, you save up to $1,050.  SAVE-ANYTIME SECRET: Try DIY. Check out howtomendit.com for directions on fi xing everything from fridges to faucets. According to the Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard University, installing new plumbing fixtures costs $372 if you go it alone, versus $709 if you call a professional. You save $337.  A Spa Trip Mother&amp;#039;s Day means big discounts at spas, says Susie Ellis, president of SpaFinder.com. Look for discounts of up to 30 percent off specific services. Say you book a massage, facial, and manicure--you save up to $56 on a day of pampering. SAVE-ANYTIME SECRET: Most spas are closed on Mondays, but if you find one that isn&amp;#039;t, you can save up to 20 percent on services that day. The same applies for Tuesdays. The average massage costs $79, so you save up to $16.  But I need it this minute!: Drugstore Items  Walgreens has a simple store refund policy, says Teri Gault, founder of The Grocery Game. This drugstore giant publishes a monthly list of rebates--if you bought anything on it that month, just mail in your receipts for money back. If you opt for a Walgreens gift card instead of a check, they&amp;#039;ll add 10 percent of the rebate amount to your gift card! Gault purchased a $9 lipstick, got a full rebate, and opted for the gift card, which, with the 10 percent, came to $10--she actually earned $1! Digital Cameras Save on older models when the newest versions hit stores in May, says Cheryl Kaplan, vice president of customer experience for Smartbargains.com, an online discount retailer. Also, watch for specials on new models now, as well as extras like free prints from online photo shops and free memory cards. With a 20 percent discount on last year&amp;#039;s version, you save up to $50 or more.  Refrigerators June means discounts of up to 20 percent, especially on fl oor models, says Terry Adams. If you don&amp;#039;t see a deal anywhere, ask if the store has anything that&amp;#039;s damaged. Usually, the problem is cosmetic (and not so obvious), but the store can&amp;#039;t sell it for full price. The average fridge goes for around $700, so you save up to $140.  Dry Cleaning Your local cleaner will be a ghost town in July, when companies adopt casual dress codes, people take vacations, and summer materials like cotton--which don&amp;#039;t always need professional cleaning--are the national uniform. So bring in big-ticket items such as winter coats, drapes, and bedding. Dry cleaners don&amp;#039;t often advertise their specials, says Nora Nealis of the National Cleaners Association, so don&amp;#039;t hesitate to ask yours for a 10 percent to 20 percent discount. You could save up to $500 on a really big or complicated job.  Seasonal Toys Kiddie pools and Super Soakers take up a lot of space store shelves, so retailers often let them go in August up to 65 percent off, says Sheliah Gilliland from Etoys.com. Have your kids been begging you for the $300 to $400 Banzai Falls Mega Racer waterslide? You could snag one for just $140, which means you save up to $260. Groceries Food is celebrated year-round, and during each edible&amp;#039;s national appreciation month, bargains abound, with savings of up to 75 percent. Here&amp;#039;s what&amp;#039;s highlighted, and when.  January National Soup Month, Oatmeal Month, and Hot Tea Month.  February National Potato Lovers&amp;#039; Month.  March National Frozen Food Month.  April National Soyfood Month.  May National Salad Month, Strawberry Month, Barbecue Month, Egg Month, Beef Month, Asparagus Month, and Salsa Month.  June National Dairy Month, Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Month, and Candy Month.  July National Blueberry Month and Ice Cream Month.  August National Catfish Month and Peach Month.  September National Chicken Month and Rice Month.  October National Pasta Month, Popcorn Month, Seafood Month, and Apple Month.  November It&amp;#039;s not offi cially turkey&amp;#039;s national month, but post-Thanksgiving, you&amp;#039;ll get the birds for a steal.  December Baking supplies are unoffi cially heralded with discounted prices on flour, sugar, and other products. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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