Admittedly, it's time for me to buy a set of new dishes, glasses and silverware. I am just trying to find the best deals. I thought about going to Marshall's or Target. Both of these stores have a lot of great deals. Any thoughts?
In my town we have a big shop called Familia Superstore that specialize only kitchen wares, home furniture, and many more products you can buy for your home. The products there usually cost a lot cheaper than any other shops in town. If you have a shop like that in your town then I think it's best for you to have a look and buy your kitchen wares from there.
I've found that one of your best bets for glassware is Dollar Tree. They usually have a great selection of sturdy, gorgeous glassware at a dollar a piece. Most of it's Libbey, too, which is the exact same brand as the cheaper glassware you'd find in a Target or Marshall's.
For a better purchase I usually go for medium priced kitchen wares. Why? Not having to buy new ones often (cheap ones break faster) saves me money in the long run. For example I avoid buying plastic and go with metal (more durable). Or like you said, hunting for deals and buying what you need in advance keeps even more money in the pocket.
Always shop around. And if you can actually wait for a while still, don't buy your new stuff until August or September. That way you'll catch all the deals aimed at the new students going off to college. Of course you won't be able to get the very high end stuff if that's what you're after, but you'll be able to get much cheaper deals than the rest of the year.
You can try the manufacturer's websites. Corelle used to have spectacular deals on sets that beat the store sales by far. If you're going to shop around, cut out the middle man and see if you can find deals online. However, don't forget to consider shipping costs as part of the purchase price.
It is summertime where I am currently living and many people have something called a 'Yard Sale', 'Garage Sale', etc. This means they resale items they do not want anymore somewhere on their property. I have found a lot of really nice and high quality glassware this way. The only trouble is, you don't often have an even count because families break things. However, if it is an older persons home they often had sets of up to 12. I am usually only looking for 4 to 6 and if a larger group comes I figure I will most likely use paper products. So when I want to buy a set I often look at older persons things and then just use the 'odd' plates, etc. as a replacement for future broken dishes...which I am sure to have. If you pay less for glassware then you don't mind treating yourself to a new set in a couple years time.
Corelle usually is the best bang for your buck dinnerware. Cast iron cookware is one of those "buy it for life" sort of products, plus no chemicals like teflon or alike. I'm a huge believer in silicone kitchen utensils like spatulas and alike. Not only can they withstand the heat, but they also don't scratch your things. Best prices are usually on Amazon. Setup a camelcamel price watch for any specific items you're interested in and they will email you when they go on sale.
