What to buy in July: smart shopping tips

Amazon Prime Day is back and the 4th of July sales are starting already.

Smart shopping expert for SlickDeals.net Trae Bodge says this is a great time to shop, especially for athletic apparel. She expects good sales on sportswear and fitness at department stores like Macy's and also at Nike and Puma.

Amazon just announced its popular Prime Day will be back for the third year in a row. It is July 11, but the sales are starting the night before, with some even rolling out this week. Trae expects to see deals on Amazon devices like the Echo and Kindle, and Amazon gift cards. She also thinks other stores will follow Amazon's lead and offer specials around the same time.

Keep an eye on the second week of July. Trae says that in previous years she has seen Black Friday in July and holiday in July sales in the same categories that go on sale on Black Friday. So look for discounts on electronics and televisions in particular.

You'll also start to see some decent back-to-school sales this month, as well.

Trae said there are a few things you might want to jump on now. If your child is into anything trendy, now is the time to buy. If they like a certain character and want that character on their backpack for school then purchase it now before it sells out.

Otherwise, she said this is a good time to start watching the back-to-school sales, but only jump on them if the discount is really deep. So how does Trae define a deep discount?

"If it's 40 percent off or more don't give it a second thought," she says.

However, if you're seeing just 10 to 20 percent off on back-to-school items chances are you'll find better deals towards the end of the summer.