This weekend is one of the biggest sales periods of the year, and every year around this same time it seems like the best deals of the year are coming up. Whereas it seems like the best time to save money, one has to be wary of some of the deception that takes place at the same time.

For instance, there are many smartphone deals this weekend, and all of them might seem like you’re going to save a lot of money. You might, but you need to pay attention because most of the phones on sale are already obsolete. It’s rare to see the latest models having big discounts at this time of year, and truth be told, if you see a discount it’s probably not a new discount but something that was already available with a switch in plan that’s just been renamed for the holiday.

There are also places you’ll go to where you’ll see discounts of up to 50%, but if you do some homework and look at the prices during the year you’ll see those items have been marked up and then discounted, to the point where your savings aren’t really what they’re purported to be. That’s pretty sleazy but there’s nothing illegal about it.

The biggest thing to take into account is whether the item is something you actually need versus want; that is, if it’s for you. If you’re buying gifts for someone else we’d hope that you had a budget for that sort of thing. If not, it’s worth taking some time to think about things you really need, even if it’s for business purposes, and then determine if it’s worth the purchase.

Business furniture is always a good purchase at this time of year because it’s an industry where, sometimes, moving inventory is relatively static. It also works because things like desks and chairs rarely goes out of style.

Computers are something you need to take a good look at, even if you need one. It’s good to have an understanding of things like RAM and storage capacity and chipset. For instance, if you need office computers mainly for email and bookkeeping then you don’t need anything with 8GB of RAM, whereas if you’re making 3D models and the like the extra capacity is a great benefit. The same goes for storage, since most businesses will never reach a level where they’re going to need terabytes of files. As for chipsets, there’s mainly two (the names of which we won’t mention here) and, truthfully, both are good but one has a name that gets more respect and thus can drive the price of a computer higher than needed.

Overall, it’s best to figure out how much money you’re willing to spend after you put together a list of things you want, whether it’s for business or pleasure. Also, the best thing about shopping in today’s world is that you can take some time to do a little online research to see where you can get the best price.