How to find grocery clearance near you

What grocery clearance actually is

There are two different things people call grocery clearance, and they show up in different parts of the store.

The first is fresh food close to its date: meat, bakery bread, deli items, bagged salad, and sometimes dairy. The store would rather sell it at a discount than throw it out, so it gets a reduced sticker on top of the regular label. These change every day.

The second is shelf-stable stock the store will not reorder: seasonal candy and baking items after a holiday, discontinued flavors, products with new packaging, and overstock. These usually get a clearance tag on the shelf and can sit there for weeks, dropping in price as they go.

Weekly ad sales are a third thing. They are planned price cuts that start and end on a set day. They are not clearance, but they stack nicely with it.

Where to look in the store

Most stores keep marked-down items in the same few places. Walk these first before you shop the rest of the list.

• The meat case, especially the ends and the bottom shelf, where reduced packs are often grouped together.
• A bakery rack or cart near the bakery counter with day-old bread, rolls, and pastries.
• The deli and prepared foods case, for reduced rotisserie chicken, salads, and sliced meat.
• The produce department, where some stores bag up ripe bananas, soft tomatoes, or mixed vegetables at a flat price.
• End caps and the back of the grocery aisles, where shelf clearance often gets moved.
• The seasonal aisle in the week or two after a holiday.
• A clearance shelf or cart near the back of the store or by the restrooms. Not every store has one, but many do.

When to go

Each store sets its own markdown routine, and it can change with the manager or the staffing that day. Many shoppers report finding the most reduced meat in the morning, and others swear by the evening. The honest answer is that it depends on your store.

The easiest way to learn your store’s pattern is to visit at a few different times over two or three weeks and note when the reduced stickers are fresh. Weekdays are usually calmer than weekends, so the reduced items you find are more likely to still be there.

For shelf clearance, timing is easier. The days right after a holiday and the first day of a new weekly ad are when stores reset shelves and move old stock to clearance.

Ask the staff

The people who stock the meat case and the bakery know exactly when they mark things down. Ask politely, and ask the department, not the front register. Something like, do you usually put out reduced meat in the morning or later in the day, works fine.

Some staff will tell you, some are not allowed to, and some stores have no set time at all. Either way you lose nothing by asking. Be kind about it and don’t follow a worker around while they label packs.

Sell-by, best-by, and use-by dates

Most dates on food are about quality, not safety. According to the USDA, sell-by, best-by, and use-by dates are set by the manufacturer to show when the food is at its best. The one product that is required to carry a use-by date for safety is infant formula.

That is why a pack of chicken on its sell-by date can still be fine to buy. What matters is how it has been stored and how quickly you cook or freeze it. Fresh poultry and ground meat should be cooked or frozen within 1 to 2 days of buying, and steaks, roasts, and chops within 3 to 5 days.

Use your senses too. Skip anything with a torn package, an off smell, or a sticky feel, whatever the date says.

Apps and weekly ads

Reduced stickers on fresh food are rarely online. Shelf clearance and weekly sales sometimes are, but each chain shows them differently, and some only show the price for one store at a time.

Penny Meals checks shelf prices and weekly ads at the stores near your ZIP code and shows what dropped this week, store by store. You can browse 5 deals a store without an account, or 10 with a free account. It’s on iPhone and in any web browser.

Store apps are worth having too. Many let you set your home store and load digital coupons, and some can scan a barcode to show the price at that store.

Turn clearance into dinner

Clearance only saves money if you use it. Before you buy, decide which night it will be dinner or whether it goes straight into the freezer.

Start with the marked-down protein, then add cheap staples you already have: rice, pasta, beans, tortillas, frozen vegetables. A reduced pack of chicken thighs plus rice and a bag of frozen broccoli is a dinner for four for a few dollars.

Questions

What time do grocery stores mark down meat?

It depends on the store. Many shoppers report finding the most reduced meat in the morning, but each store sets its own routine. Ask the meat department at your store, or visit at a few different times and see when fresh reduced stickers appear.

Is it safe to buy food on its sell-by date?

Usually, yes. The USDA says sell-by and best-by dates are about quality, not safety, except on infant formula. Cook or freeze fresh poultry and ground meat within 1 to 2 days, and skip anything with a damaged package or an off smell.

Where is the clearance section in a grocery store?

Check the ends of the meat case, a day-old bakery rack, the deli case, end caps, the back of the grocery aisles, and the seasonal aisle after a holiday. Some stores also keep a clearance cart near the back.

Can I find grocery clearance online?

Reduced stickers on fresh food are almost never online. Shelf clearance and weekly sales sometimes are. Penny Meals shows what dropped at the stores near your ZIP code each week.

This week’s markdowns

• Walmart markdowns this week
• Kroger markdowns this week
• ALDI markdowns this week

Cheap recipes

• Dinners under $3 a serving
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Related guides

• How to buy reduced for quick sale meat safely
• Kroger yellow sticker markdowns, explained
• How to find Walmart grocery clearance