Labor Day means great sales, but how good are they?

PHOENIX - Labor Day means lots of sales, but how do you know what's a good sale and what's not? Let your fingers do the work so you can save.

First, let me give you some background.

Retailers love the holidays because that often means they can capture your dollars and Labor Day is the last holiday before Black Friday.

In addition, September overall is a good month for buying certain items. Summer is ending and fall is starting so naturally retailers want to move the old to replace with the new and that means bargains for you.

The things you will find great deals on for Labor Day sales will be items like summer clothing, barbecues, patio furniture, even back-to-school supplies.

The wonderful thing about living in the Valley is that we really don’t have much of a change of seasons. While other parts of the country are cooling off, we are still in a hot zone.

These summer clearance sale items are awesome for us because in the Valley we can still use those seasonal items. Make sure to check out national chain stores to really maximize your savings. National chain stores like Target, Walmart, Home Depot, Sears, and the list goes on, will need to move their summer inventory out to make room for fall inventory.

How do you know if a sale item is a deal? I use my handy tool called Google Shopper. It compares prices and will show you pricing for an item online and in stores. I never leave home without it.

If you have any type of Smartphone you can download the app, and if you don’t, you can use Google and type in the item and then click on the Shopping section. It works like the app.

Bottom line, holiday or not, never, ever buy anything without doing your research. Knowledge truly is powerful when it comes to finding a good deal.