Buy Ketchup in May and Fly at Noon 1st (first) edition Text Only

by Mark Di Vincenzo

An enlightening compendium of the best times of day, week, month, and life to do a variety of things — from the serious (money, marriage) to the mundane (taking a nap, walking your dog) — to save time and money in tough economic times. Have you ever wanted to know the best day of the week to buy groceries or go out to dinner? Have you ever wondered about the best time of day to ask someone out on a date—or for a raise? A handy collection of helpful life hacks, Buy Ketchup in May and Fly at Noon tells you the best time—of the day, of the week, of the month or of the year—to do almost anything. Do you Get more for your money, maximize your time, take better care of your health and be savvier about your career—all by doing certain things at the right time. Timing is everything!

Genres: Nonfiction, Reference, Self Help, Finance

Paperback

First published October 1, 2009

Reviews

[Jack Cheng]

Enh. Here, I'll save you the time: things go on sale at the end of the season; doctors will not get backed up if you're their first patient of the day (or after lunch); people are happier and more receptive to both good and bad news on Fridays; you tend to think better mid-morning. Reconfigure different ways and you have a book! The one piece I found interesting was that students need a "hook" in a lecture every ten minutes or they check out.

[Anna · Rating 2 out of 5]

A brilliant book as concept, but very difficult to make the book so that it would appeal to 'most readers' - everyone has different needs and interests. End result being that everyone will probably find some of the tips 'doh' or just banal. Like tell a 85 year old reader that the best time to have children for a woman is early in her career... doh? Or buy veggies and fruit when they're in season... well, doh.
A good variety of topics - now if only I remembered the tips when they are needed in the real life without keeping the book around.
Some of the tips I've been using for ages, like buying flight tickets 8-6 weeks before flying, on a Tuesday. Or shopping on a Wednesday if I want to utilize the double weekly deals from a grocery. Or studying when it seems to best work for my brain's circadian rhythms.

Some of the tips are also a bit too... umm, life? When to have kids (young), when to have sex to have kids (TMI), when to potty-train your human offspring (when they're 18-30 months old. But wait... the parents of children adopted from China get a crisis when their one year old new child doesn't need diapers. So a Western child needs more time to master his.. stuff?).
Some tips I'll never us (in addition to those related to children). When to buy ketchup? I make my own. No more HFCS... I hope I'll never need to own a lawnmower, winter clothing, or to look at a tips book when to marry. I will also not be buying a new pillow every two years just because a book tells me I should, mine is comfortable enough, thank you.

A lot of the tips are aimed for you getting a better deal in something. But so much more can be saved in how and where you shop. If instead of waiting for a Saturday evening when the Sunday deals supposedly kick in the department stores, and then be in a shopping rush with a huge crowd of women, shop at the outlets, or the clearance racks, or figure where your closest charity and thrift stores with decent selection are. (and the least painful time to shop in all of those: when they open on Sunday or Saturday). Choose the store brand, learn to make your own, figure what and when works for you (and how to do without). But still a neat concept, and it works for bathroom/coffee table/travel reads.

[Natalie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bought this today at a Friends of the Library booksale for $0.50 . Even though I prefer to spell it Catsup, how could I go wrong? One of these strategies is bound to save me 50¢ !

Here's an example from p 17


Q. When is the best time of the year to buy video games?
A. Jan - March


And another real gem from p 95:
Q. when is the best time to send mass-market emails to moms?

[image error]
Email Marketing, as American as?

A. Between 6 PM and 8PM so that between 8-10PM when they have time to check their email, yours will be at or near the top of their in-boxes.

[Kristen Northrup · Rating 3 out of 5]

So what's the best time to read this book? Like most reference works, it's more appropriate for on-demand dipping than for reading straight through. Sadly, there is no index. But there are theme chapters and clear topic headings. There are many interesting factoids mixed throughout, although some advice seems very regional. For example, showing up early to a garage sale is considered very rude in this part of the country. But I'll certainly pay attention the next time I go to a movie matinee, to see whether people really are spending more at the concessions stand than they do at evening showings. The reasons for the 'best' time vary -- sometimes it's quality, sometimes price, sometimes safety, sometimes convenience. A lot of it is common sense, but that doesn't mean you already knew the answer. The primary sources are well-documented, but it would have been nice to see the origins of the interesting little 'did you know?' sidebars as well.

[Susanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting book with some conventional wisdom. Here are some interesting tidbits...

The best time to buy new tires is when the tire trend is down to 1/8 inch. To gauge this measurement, hold a quarter to the tire. The author said it's about 1/8 inch from the rim of the coin to George Washington's hairline. If you can see more of his head than that, it's time to replace your tires.

February 14 is the only day that one can get married at the Empire state Building.

The best time to visit the pyramids of Giza is January and February. Also, only 300 tickets are sold daily if you want to go inside the pyramids. 150 tickets are sold at 8am and the other 150 are sold at 1pm.

The best time to take Melatonin is at night. Melatonin is called the "Dracula hormone" as it is released during darkness and it helps people to sleep.

There are many interesting facts. Some deem useful, some perhaps not. In any case, this book makes a great coffee table book.

[Kiersten · Rating 2 out of 5]

An interesting idea, but "guide" is exactly what this was. Not so much a book...and not so much original material. Because I like a deal, I was curious to see what this guide had to offer, but found that just being aware and conscientous had gotten me as much knowledge of when to buy things as the research he quoted. As far as the best time to "do this" section, I found it very repetitive. My favorite (and perhaps the only) tidbit gleaned from the book..."Husbands create an additional seven hours of housework per week for wives." But again, are we really surprised? :0)

[Barb · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very informative book if one is concerned about when is the best time to do things, travel, study, get healthy, and do serious stuff. For instance, Tuesday is the best day to purchase airline tickets and Saturday is the best day to fly out. Also included are best seasons to purchase which fruits/vegies, best time to go shopping, when to apply sunscreen, etc. etc. In the back of the book is his list of sources for all this information. Some serious research going on here! Only thing is this was written in 2009. Might need an update

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm fairly certain that this author has rewritten this same book multiple times under slightly different titles of the same spirit. Did I learn anything? I don't think so. Was it still interesting? Yes, sometimes. The strangest thing that I will remember about this book is when it suddenly said out of the blue, " Your husband creates 7 extra hours of housework per week." I read through all of citations at the end of the book more than once to find the original source of this information. I did not find it. What a strange thing to randomly state in this book.

[Stef · Rating 2 out of 5]

I skimmed this, looking primarily for information that would apply to me, so this was a quick read! it seems like it would be better as a website, as the info is likely to feel dated relatively quickly.

[DelGal · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think I might have enjoyed some of this information a little bit more had it not been written in the
crazy repetitive question/answer format. I got bored and annoyed with reading "when is the best..." line over, and over AND over again!

[Yuzarsif · Rating 5 out of 5]

great source of info, nice work

[Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

Always a fun, if not necessarily the most interesting, read. The rationales are neat, but it can get a bit tedious.

[Michael · Rating 1 out of 5]

Another coffee table, bathroom, doctor's office book that I came across over the holidays. Some may get more out of it than others, but this book is worthless to me. Most of the information is not important enough to even want to use it. I don't need to know that "coats are best bought in Jan and Feb, except you may not get the best selection." When I need a coat, I go buy one. Same goes for TV's and most other things I need. I know that the sales are after Thanksgiving and Christmas. That's all I need to know. Oh yeah, and the no-tax day just prior to school.

The book is split up into sections. I read through the first two sections and decided I was reading useless info at that point. I then skimmed the headings of the rest of the items, read a few, and was still not impressed. If I were to break my life down and apply the minutiae of these suggestions, it would be time for meds.

"When is the best time to buy stocks?"
There are three sentences devoted to this. Please!

I won't tell you when the best time to make love is...I'll let you figure that one out yourself. ;-)

[Judith · Rating 3 out of 5]

I got this book from the library, but I think I will have to buy it because it is a very useful reference book. When is the best time to fertilize your lawn, get your teeth cleaned, make love, have your picture taken, write poetry, see the Northern lights, dine out. . . etc. etc. etc. ? This book tells it all, with sources to back it up.

Obviously, this is just another self-help book, but I like the angle. If you are an organized person and like to have an optimal model to follow, then this book is for you. I can see some people arguing with every page, but to me, it was entertaining and informative.

[patrice · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book has a lot of useful information. The topics do mesh together well, but it doesn't seem well organized. I would've liked to see mroe structure. A book like this doesn't need to be particularly "readable," but I'm assuming that was part of the author's plan. It did explain reasons why we do things at the times we do them, which was interesting trivia, but not extremely useful. The title makes the book look like it will be mostly about the best times to buy certain items, but really only about a thrid of the book covers those topics.

[Kristal Stidham · Rating 2 out of 5]

The whole section about when to buy something could pretty much be summed up in a few words: "Ask a salesman when the new models will come in and buy an old model then". Other sections were a little less intuitive, so I got more out of them. He also adds in a lot of extra info and trivia after the when and why, which I often found interesting. Now I just have to hope I can remember the few things that I didn't know because this book is not nearly substantive enough for me to keep around on a shelf for reference.

[Derrick · Rating 2 out of 5]

This guide would be a handy thing if you owned it and had a particular thing you were considering doing or buying, then you could pull it off the shelf and consult it. However, in this day and age, if one is thinking of buying a fridge or oven, all one has to do is perform a quick search online to find the same information as the author provides here. Not quite detailed enough to fall into the realm of a consumer guide either as all topics are very quickly, and broadly broached. May have even been better in 2007 when it was published, but certainly not 5 years later.

[Ami · Rating 2 out of 5]

I give it 2 1/2 stars. It should have been titled, "A whole bunch of facts and information (most of which is common sense) sporadically organized." The book is a cool idea that just wasn't executed properly. To use all the information in the book, you either need a photographic memory or a copy of the book and a whole lot of time to peruse it often (because of the minimalistic organization). It makes me feel slightly depressed when a book doesn't live up to it's possible potential.

[Katie · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a neat book. There is a lot of great information about when the best time to buy, sell, go on vacation, shop, get married, etc. However, as a Canadian I found much of this information not applicable to me because of different holidays, climate, seasons, etc.
A lot of the tips can be summed up into one sentence: Buy/do something out of season as it will cost less and not be a busy.
This book is definitely worth a perusal.

[Mayda · Rating 3 out of 5]

As with most informative books, by the time you reach a certain point in life, you will already know some of what is stated. But probably you will learn something new, too. This “when-to” book is entertaining and informative, easy to pick up and read a bit when you have a moment or two to fill, and bound to be of use at some point in the future, whether you are shopping or just giving advice to friends.

[Ellen Miller · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is not a typical book where you are going to sit down and get lost in it, but I still am really glad I read it because the information is useful. He does a very good job at describing why experts recommend doing certain things at certain times, though it can be a bit repetitious. I found this book was perfect to read in short spurts and I read something more fun whenever I had longer, uninterrupted stretches of time.

[Meg - A Bookish Affair · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is filled with the best times for doing things from buying plane tickets to buying bathing suits. Some of the times were not all that surprising and kind of predictable. I also was more interested in how the author came up with these times. What was his research like? He does list a list of people/places that gave him the information but there isn't a whole lot of background.

[morninglightmama · Rating 3 out of 5]

A neat collection of advice on when to do and buy a whole wide range of things. Some of my favorites-- best time to write poetry (teens and 20's), best time to clean your house (4 pm), and best time to visit Paris (September and early October). A good chunk of this info is common sense, at least I think, but the author does cite an impressive amount of sources showing some solid research.

[Joann · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a surprisingly neat little book, packed full of little tips on flying, ticket pruchasing, medical tests, shopping items and the best times to buy to get the best deals on everything, as well as the best times to visit parts of the US and the world. Very informative.

[Madison · Rating 2 out of 5]

Most of this book was common sense and/or old news. Teenagers should start school later in the morning because they're more alert, you should buy produce when it is in season, you shouldn't eat before bed...

[Marilyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

When should you buy a car, take calcium, study for short-term learning---and more? One of those books that can be read in small pieces and outloud to others. There will be at least a few useful tidbits.

[Aaron Carlberg]

This is a handy book that lets you know when the best time is to do EVERYTHING. When to purchase airline tickets, when to shop at thrift stores..and, of course, when to buy ketchup. Handy when trying to save money.

[Katie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a 5-star coffee table book. It has a lot of fun short facts that are easy to read. I rated it 3-stars more from a general knowledge book. Nothing blew my mind but it did have neat little facts.

[Philitsa · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's a reference book, and not even that interesting. Pick it up from the library if you're that interested. Or message me. I'll send you my copy!

[Courtney · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book has helpful information although the author never identifies his credentials or what his thoughts or conjectures are based on. It gets annoying after a while. Glad I didn't buy this book.