There are many places to shop in the Raleigh area. Friends are a great source for good ideas about the best places to shop for certain items. Don’t hesitate to ask a friend which grocery store they find most affordable or which clothing store has the best prices, etc.  

Please find a list below of some places to find household items and clothing:

Yard Sales/Garage Sales – A sale of household items, no longer wanted, held at that person’s home. This is a good place to find children’s clothing, toys, kitchen items, furniture, exercise equipment, and miscellaneous household items. Check Friday’s News and Observer newspaper for a listing of yard sales, locations, and times. Most yard sales are held early Saturday mornings. Prices are negotiable.

NC State University Surplus Sale – Sales are from 12:30 to 2:30 pm on the 2nd and 4th Thursdays of the month, except in November and December. In November and December, sale weeks are on the 1st and 3rd Thursdays. The lottery drawing starts at 11:50 am. As of January 1st, accepted forms of payment are Visa, Mastercard, Discover, and American Express, plus tap to pay. No cash. You can preview the items available for sale on Instagram (@ncstatesurplus).

Miscellaneous items for household and personal care: Target, K-Mart, Family Dollar (on Avent Ferry near the Post Office) and Wal-Mart are all fairly inexpensive stores. K-Mart is the closest store to campus. Stores like Dollar Tree, The Dollar Store, and Everything a Dollar are great for buying small household items and personal items. In these stores, each item in the store costs $1.

Food/Grocery Shopping: Here are several ways to save money.

1. Buy Generic (i.e. the store brand of items).

2. Use manufacturer’s and store coupons found in the newspaper/magazines.

3.  Each store has different items on sale each week. Usually stores run sales either from Wednesday-Tuesday or Sunday-Saturday.

4. Many stores offer discount cards (Food Lion- MVP card, Harris Teeter- VIC card). You must fill out an application at the customer service desk for this card.

5. Shop at N.C. Farmers Market on Lake Wheeler Road just off I-40 for fresh produce.

6. Buy the larger quantities of the foods you use most often. Many stores will list under a product how much it costs per ounce, pound, etc.