The month of July is full of deals, starting with the Fourth of July weekend, but July might actually be a case of what not to buy, at least not yet.

That's because Amazon's Prime Day and big back-to-school sales are just around the corner, with some of the biggest markdowns of the year on home items and tech devices.

Mom Stacy Henderson and her children know the big sales haven't started yet, but they wanted to get a head start on back-to-school shopping.

"We're getting some paper, binders, highlighters," she said while heading into a Target store.

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But those deals get sweeter as the month goes on.

• Target's "Circle Week" begins July 7.
• "Walmart Deals" starts on July 8.
• Best Buy's "July Black Friday" event takes place mid-month.
• And the biggest of them all, Amazon's Prime Day sale, is July 16 and 17.

What to know about Prime Day this year

Shopper Ariel Nelson always tries to shop Prime Day.

"They have great deals," she said.

Nelson's right, according to Consumer Reports.

"There are prices that are as good as Black Friday on a lot of items," deals editor Samantha Gordon said.

Gordon says Prime Day brings deals and savings across all major categories, but especially on Amazon-branded products, like Echo devices and Ring doorbells, as well as back-to-school supplies.

"So everything from clothing to your essentials, notebooks, and pens and backpacks, as well as tech devices are going to be on sale this month," Gordon said.

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Her advice: Track items you're interested in now to make sure the price has actually dropped and wasn't just slapped with a "sale" tag.

"You can also comparison shop, go to other retailers, see what their prices are, and you can come to CR.org/deals," Gordon said. "I track all of the prices on all the items we test to let you know when there's a really good price, and I'll be doing that all through Prime Day."

Best Buy's Seph Swaenepoel says you don't need to be in school to enjoy the July tech deals.

"I think it's a great time, regardless of whether you are a student or not," he said.

That's what Henderson wants to hear. She told us she will be shopping for deals "all summer long."

That way you don't waste your money.

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