The annual Boxing Days sales are in full swing! We usually spend all those gift cards on ourselves and have a great shopping week. And after Boxing day in January, most stores are blowing out inventory, known as Inventory blowout, cleaning out their warehouses and making room for new stock. These next few months are a fantastic opportunity to purchase for others in advance.
Many thrifty consumers have been on to this for years, and it’s not a new concept at all. But it’s always a good reminder to think ahead of presents you will be expecting to purchase ahead of time.
What to Purchase ahead of time.
Christmas Theme
All those little things you end up purchasing next December anyhow. Now that your tree is upstart thinking about next year, all of these items will be on blowout sales while stores clean out their inventory for the next few weeks.
- Christmas Wrapping stuff
- Christmas Tree
- Christmas Ornaments
- Christmas lights
- Decorations (outside and in)
- Discount Chocolate candy(Use a cloth bag and store all your discount chocolate candy in the freezer, and if you use a Christmas cloth bag, you’ll easily remember what’s in the bag.
Birthdays!
- building blocks
- puzzles
- board games
- Colouring /Art Supplies
Baby Clothing
General Present Box
Purchase winter gloves, hats, scarves, slippers during these blowout sales, and save for next year’s Christmas presents or give them out for presents for winter birthdays.
Tip: Stay Organized
Keep track of what you purchase ahead. I suggest sticking to a box or at least one place in your home to store your year-ahead gifts. I’m not sure how many times over the years I have been hunting for a gift that I purchased ahead of time, knowing I should of putting it with the others. So start the year off right and attempt to keep things together.
Why Shop Ahead for the year for Presents
Lots of Money savings going on; the stores need to move their merchandise and get ready for the spring and summer merchandise, there’s only so much floor space, so it’s time to blow out the deals. So it is a wonderful time to save a few dollars by shopping now.
Write a List
- Birthdays
- Anniversaries
- Kids birthday parties
- Significant Adult birthdays ( 40, 50, 60)
- Office presents
- Babies that will be born
- House Warming, kids leaving for college
Christmas Traditions
- Stocking Stuffers
- Gift Exchanges
If you always purchase your family’s new PJ’s for Christmas, you might find a deal on new flannel pj’s for next year at a considerable discount such as 50% off. If you are all into everyone having the same colour, you might not be lucky.
Another popular Tradition is purchasing Christmas ornaments for everyone; this will also be the season you could save for next year.
I always think “Practical” when it comes to purchasing ahead like this, but it’s how I roll, and I always find it to be frustrating when someone goes and purchases the gift I bought even a few months in advance, let alone a year in advance.
Stay on Budget
Don’t do a whole year’s worth of shopping in one day if you can’t afford to. If it means only a few ideas or gifts are now off the list, that’s great, don’t beat yourself up. This is a savings game, and there will always be another sale; this is what people sometimes forget. Summer and spring clearance sales will happen again in August, and I’m sure there’ll be more companies going out of business, where you will be able to catch another clearance sale.
Remember to Price Match if it’s a flyer deal and maybe earn yourself some loyalty points.
Think Ahead & Save
For many people reading this article, I’m sure the notion of buying more stuff after the significant expenditure of Christmas, but that’s why I say to stay within budget, and you can use this theory all year long, not just at Boxing sales or a January blow out.
It’s time and effort and a bit of planning, but it can help your bottom line in the long run.
