A retail trends analyst says the easiest way to save money at stores like Walmart or Best Buy isn't a coupon or a sale, it's waiting a single day before you buy.
Clay Cary, a senior trends analyst at the coupon-tracking platform CouponFollow, laid out the case for what he calls the "24-hour rule" in an interview with The U.S. Sun. The idea is blunt: if you spot something you want but don't truly need, walk away. Come back tomorrow. If you still want it after sleeping on it, then start hunting for the best price.
It is not a complicated formula. But in an economy where American families are watching every dollar, the discipline of a one-day pause may do more for a household budget than chasing flash sales ever could.
The strategy hinges on a distinction most shoppers skip past: do you need the item, or do you just want it right now? Cary told The U.S. Sun that the rule applies specifically to non-essential purchases, the kind of spending that racks up quietly on credit card statements and leaves families wondering where the money went.
"One of the easiest money-saving tricks I use is just waiting 24 hours before buying something I don't really need."
That quote from Cary sounds almost too obvious. But his follow-up gets at why the trick works on a gut level:
"It sounds simple, but you'd be surprised how often you come back the next day and realize you don't actually want it anymore."
Impulse spending is not a character flaw. Retailers spend billions engineering store layouts, online checkout flows, and limited-time-offer pressure specifically to short-circuit the pause between "I want that" and "I bought that." The 24-hour rule is a manual override for a system designed to keep you from thinking twice. For consumers already counting every dollar at the register, that pause can be the difference between staying on budget and blowing past it.
Cary's advice does not end with "don't buy it." If the desire survives a full day, he recommends a second step: compare prices across retailers, search for a coupon code, or check whether a cash-back offer exists.
"If I do still want it, that's when I'll compare prices, look for a coupon, or see if there's a cash-back offer."
CouponFollow, the platform where Cary works, tracks online coupon codes and deals. So the man has a professional interest in shoppers hunting for discounts. But his core point cuts against the coupon industry's own pitch: sometimes the smartest move is to skip the purchase entirely.
He put it plainly:
"Sometimes the best deal isn't saving 20% on something, it's realizing you can save 100% by not buying it in the first place."
That line deserves a spot on every American refrigerator. A 20-percent-off coupon on a $200 gadget saves you $40. Not buying the gadget saves you $200. The math is not complicated. The hard part is resisting the dopamine hit of clicking "add to cart."
One expert recently demonstrated a similar principle in a different way, removing saved card details from Amazon and adding friction to the checkout process. The underlying logic is the same: make it slightly harder to spend, and spending drops.
There is one obvious objection, and the source material acknowledges it. Limited-time sales, Black Friday doorbusters, 48-hour clearance events, lightning deals, put a hard clock on the decision. Waiting 24 hours on a deal that expires in six is not practical.
Cary's advice does not address that tension directly. But the broader principle still applies: most of what Americans buy on Black Friday is not something they planned to buy before the sale appeared. The "limited time" label is itself a tool designed to kill the pause. Knowing that does not make the pressure disappear, but it does put the shopper back in control of the question, do I need this, or am I reacting to a countdown timer?
Retailers have been adjusting their own strategies as consumers tighten up. Target has slashed prices for loyalty members in short-window sales events, and Walmart has expanded perks for Walmart+ members to keep shoppers locked into their ecosystem. Those programs deliver real savings, but they also keep customers spending inside one store instead of comparison-shopping, which is exactly what Cary recommends doing after the 24-hour wait.
The 24-hour rule is not a new invention. Financial advisors have recommended versions of it for decades. What makes it worth repeating now is the pressure American households face. Grocery bills are up. Interest rates are elevated. Workers are raiding retirement savings at troubling rates just to cover current expenses.
Against that backdrop, a strategy that costs nothing and requires no app, no membership, and no special knowledge has real value. You do not need a financial planner to wait a day. You need the willingness to admit that the urge to buy something right now is not the same as needing it.
Cary's advice is aimed at individual shoppers, not policymakers. But there is a broader lesson in it for anyone watching Washington burn through money it does not have: the best savings come not from finding a better deal on something you should not be buying, but from putting the wallet away entirely.