The Best and Worst Things to Buy in June

This post comes from Lindsay Sakraida at partner site DealNews.

June is the month with the longest daylight hours of the year, which for the deal hunter means that you have even more time to shop! But before you let the increasingly warm weather convince you to buy less-than-stellar deals, check out our latest buying guide.

We searched through our extensive archives of sales, promotions, coupons and daily deals to sort the fact from fiction when it comes to getting the best deals in June.

Ladies love cool lingerie (deals)

It’s usually this month that Victoria’s Secret unveils its famed Semi-Annual Sale, and last year we saw discounts on bras, panties and swimwear. Keep in mind, though, that discounts might get stronger later in the month, as the store slashed prices further as the weeks went by.

Moreover, we saw excellent lingerie deals in June from Frederick’s of Hollywood and Maidenform.

Grill deals will spark in July

As we mentioned last month, deals on grills will continue to be less than thrilling this month. You’ll get a better discount if you wait for July Fourth promotions. According to our deals from last year, you could save as much as 50 percent, or $220 or more, on a mid- to high-end grill if you wait until July.

However, keep in mind that beef prices are on the rise, so you might want to consider alternative sustenance for your barbecues.

Vacation in the Caribbean on a dime

Technically, June is considered to be the beginning of the Caribbean’s hurricane season. But, unlike the later months, it’s far less likely to experience tropical storms. Still, there is the chance of bad weather, which means vacation packages and cruises in the area are much cheaper. If you’re willing to give it a try, look for last-minute Caribbean vacation deals.

Hit up Disney World in August instead

Speaking of cheap vacations, you might want to hold off on a trip to Disney World this month. Using exclusive data from Priceline, we reported last month that the cheapest weekend to book a Disney-accessible hotel is in August, whereas the most expensive time is the last weekend of June. Waiting a few months means you could save as much as 23 percent.

Keep an eye out for Father’s Day deals

While you’ll likely want to get something for dear old Dad that’s in line with his interests, shoppers should keep in mind that many restaurants will offer Father’s Day discounts on the day itself. Look for offers that include free entrees for Dad, or discounted extras like dessert.

Typically this is a favorite promotion among nationwide chains, but your local restaurant might similarly have a special that’s worth your time.

Hold off on Apple purchases

Apple will be holding its annual developers conference in early June, and one thing is certain: You’ll be kicking yourself if you buy a new iMac or MacBook Air if these items get refreshed in June. If that happens, then we’ll see price cuts on previous-generation models, both new units (at resellers like MacMall) and refurbished devices (from Apple directly).

Already, we’re hearing that the manufacturer will unveil a cheaper iMac, which means pricing in general may be about to shift quite a bit.

Mmmmm, doughnuts …

Is the correct spelling “doughnut” or “donut”? Who cares?This month they’re free! June 6 is National Doughnut Day, and stores that sell the delicious food will be doling out freebies all day. In fact, the big three — Krispy Kreme, Dunkin’ Donuts, and Tim Horton’s — all offered a free doughnut for the past two years. (Only Krispy Kreme did so with no purchase necessary.) The offers will likely be valid for one day only, but see if you can hit up all three.

The Xbox One will be cheaper, and the PS4 will finally see deals

Microsoft has been struggling to beat out Sony in console sales, largely because its Xbox One was priced $100 more than the PlayStation 4. (And according to our survey, many gamers were already acclimated to both Xbox and PS3 platforms, and were thus willing to base their decision on price.)

In response, Microsoft finally announced that it would sell the One console without the Kinect sensor for $399, the same manufacturer’s suggested retail price as the PS4, allowing budget-savvy shoppers the opportunity to get into next-generation gaming at a lower initial cost.

Perhaps not so coincidentally, we also saw our first deals on the PS4 last month, and we anticipate seeing a few scattered discounts going forward, now that the two consoles are on even footing price-wise.

Don’t buy a TV in June; 4K sets make modest progress

The summer months have never been an ideal time for TV deals, and if May is any indication, chances are June will see little to no significant TV price drops. However, if you find yourself in dire need of a new HDTV, your best alternative would be to look at off-brand 42-inch TVs, which have averaged about $324 for the past two months. (By comparison, their name-brand counterparts are going for roughly $389.)

But not all TV deals are currently stagnant. Early adopters will be happy to hear that 4K has made some progress in the past few months. While we still recommend the average consumer spend a little more on a quality 1080p HDTV, if you’ve got 4K on your mind, there are a few models that are on our deal radar.

For name-brand sets, the 65-inch Sony XBR-65X850A has dropped from its launch price of $4,999 in November to $2,779 in mid-May. Its smaller sibling, the 55-inch Sony XBR-55X850A, has also seen impressive price cuts, from its debut price of $3,499 to an all-time low of $1,697.

And if you don’t mind owning a third-tier set, the 55-inch Seiki SE55UY04 (which debuted in November at $1,500) is hands down the cheapest big-screen 4K TV we’ve seen to date.

Touch-screen laptops are the new budget machines

Black Friday and back-to-school season are generally the best times of the year to purchase a new laptop. And while we’re not quite in back-to-school season yet, the deals are starting to get hot.

In fact, last month we saw a spectacular deal on the 2014 ASUS X200MA, a budget 11.6-inch laptop with a touch-screen display that hit $199 — making it the cheapest touch-screen laptop we’ve ever seen, and the second-cheapest laptop we’ve ever posted on DealNews.

This is indicative of a much bigger trend. Since the start of the year, 15-inch and 12-inch touch-screen laptops have started to undercut laptops with AMD CPUs, the latter of which were typically our go-to budget recommendations. (Many of the touch-screen laptops we post today use Intel’s Bay Trail or Haswell Celeron CPU.)

And while prices are dropping, the volume of deals is on the rise; for instance, April saw 36 percent more 15-inch touch-screen laptop deals than January. For 12-inch systems, the numbers of deals is more impressive, with April seeing a 65 percent increase compared with January.

For anyone looking to buy a notebook, that means touch-screen laptops are the new budget systems. As far as pricing is concerned, look for deals in the $199 range for 12-inch notebooks, and deals in the $300 range for 15-inch machines.

June marks the start of back-to-school

Fortunately, touch-screen laptops aren’t the only systems seeing significant price cuts. Last month we also saw 15-inch Haswell-based notebooks hit their second-best price of the year at $438. And since another class of teenagers has just graduated, you can expect back-to-school sales to start popping up throughout the month, yielding some solid laptop deals in the process. But keep in mind that deals will get better as the summer progresses.

June is also a big month for Apple fans. Rumors indicate Apple may unveil a Retina MacBook Air at its Worldwide Developers Conference keynote. Such a system could trigger further discounts on the 2013 MacBook Air, which Best Buy offered (to students only) at an all-time price low of $649 in early May.

Microsoft fans also have reason to celebrate. With pre-orders of its Surface Pro 3 in full swing, it’s likely we’ll see sharp discounts on the Surface RT and Surface 2 tablets.

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