After Christmas Sales

You can save a bundle by shopping sales the day after Christmas
The holiday shopping season begins after Halloween, and then ramps into overdrive on the Friday after Thanksgiving, otherwise known as “Black Friday.”

The shopping season doesn’t end on Christmas day, however, and you can save a bundle on a huge variety of items at the after Christmas sales. It’s also never too early to start looking for holiday gifts for next year.

Seasonal supplies

It’s normal to spend money on gifts, but it’s amazing how much it can cost to wrap the gifts – especially if you’re lazy like me, and prefer to use gift bags and tissue paper rather than old-fashioned wrapping paper. After Christmas, all of the holiday wrap, ribbons, gift bags, and gift tags are marked down drastically. They will continue to go down in price for the few weeks following Christmas, but the longer you wait, the more picked over the items will be.

Holiday decorations like wreaths, candles, artificial trees, lights, ornaments, and stockings will also all be marked down for clearance. This is a great time to stock up on decorations for future holiday seasons. Another great idea is to purchase “Baby’s First Christmas” ornaments for any friends who are expecting a child in the upcoming year.

Craft supplies

If you’re a crafter, the after Christmas sales can be a great way to stock up on your crafting supplies. Much of the red, green, gold, and silver yarns, ribbons, stickers, scrapbooking and card-making papers will have slashed prices. Plan your projects for next Christmas around the deals you find.

Seasonal apparel

If you have children, all of those adorable Christmas dresses and velveteen suits for babies, toddlers, and children will go on sale after the holiday. Buy at least a size larger, if not two, than they are currently wearing. They may not fit next year, but they will the year after, and you’ll save money.

Winter accessories will also go on sale after Christmas so that the stores can make room for the spring and summer items that seem to magically appear right after New Year’s Day. Mittens, gloves, stocking caps, scarves, and muffs make great gifts for next year, for both Christmas and people who have fall and winter birthdays.

Overstock items

You know all the commercials and print ads we see in the weeks leading up to Christmas, the ones advertising extremely cheap DVD players, home entertainment systems, stereo and computer equipment, and gaming systems? Retail stores often overstock these items and have many left over after the holiday. For your best chance at these larger-ticket items, be sure to be at the stores early the day after Christmas.

Seasonal food items

Chocolates, nuts, holiday desserts, and other food items that are packaged for Christmas will also be marked down for the after Christmas sales. The food isn’t expired, but the packages need to be removed from the shelves. Many products that people buy for their kids, like cereal, breakfast items, and frozen food items, will have holiday packaging and the stores will often mark these items down as much as 50 percent.

Online after-Christmas sales

When you’re looking for post-Christmas sales, don’t forget online retailers. Many retailers offer more items on their web stores, and again, many of these items will be marked down after the holiday. If you’re a book-lover like me, make sure to visit Barnes & Noble’s online store. They mark down tons of books; last year I got some great deals the week after Christmas.

Make sure you prepare for your after Christmas shopping with some online research and comparison shopping. Check the fliers in your local paper for the bigger retailers like Wal-mart, Target, Circuit City, and Best Buy, because many of these stores will be offering the same or similar items, and you’ll want to make sure you’re getting the best possible deals. Shopping the after Christmas sales can be a wonderful way to stretch your dollar.

source:http://www.catalogs.com/info/gifts/after-christmas-sale.html

The outlook isn’t joyous for the holiday shopping season and after christmas sales, but local and national retailers hope special promotions and bargains will prod consumers to spend more freely.

As the economic downturn deepens, 37 percent of consumers nationwide say they plan to scale back on their gifts and other holiday-related spending, according to a recent International Council of Shopping Centers/Goldman Sachs survey. That’s the highest percentage since ICSC began asking the question in 2004 and is up from 27 percent last year.

How awesome would it be if we could enjoy the great times of Christmas everyday? Well, we may not be able to sit by a warm fire in the heat of July, but after Christmas sales can make your bank account happy month after month.

Here’s how to snap up the best after Christmas sales:

Buy for Christmas in advance: Seasonal products like kitchenware and bedding will provide you with the largest savings. If you are in need of some new towels or bed sheets, stock up for next year when these items go on sale for 75% off. Buy bargin priced dark colored wrap to use on other gifts throughout the year.

Purchase gifts for year round occasions: Marked down prices for toys are great for birthday parties throughout the year. Be on the lookout for after christmas sales for items to give to your loved ones on their birthdays and anniversaries. Store them in your closet or shed labeled with your friend or relative’s name. Be sure to find a way to remind yourself somehow that you already have a gift for these specific people.

Look for expiration dates: Prepackaged gifts like popcorn or pasta sauce packs are wonderful gifts to give throughout the year as long as they are without markings and expiration dates.

Check return policies: Make sure you know and understand the store’s rules on returns and exchanges. The majority of sales on after Christmas clearance merchandise are final, but the store may offer returns or exchanges on broken or defective items.

Since Christmas is almost here, I thought I’d share some ways you can use after Christmas sales to help make next Christmas and occasions throughout the year financially easier.

After Christmas sales can be a great way to save money on things you would buy anyway, without paying full price. As you see the things that are on sale, try to predict which of those things you are likely to need during the next year.

Don’t limit your thinking to Christmas! Consider how you may use after Christmas items for other occasions in the coming year. Be creative!

Don’t go crazy and buy everything they have just because it is marked down. If you buy 20 of something you don’t need and eventually just get rid of it, you didn’t really save by getting it on clearance.

If you want to get some great deals but you also want a lot of selection, you’ll want to show up in the store pretty early on December 26th. You can get deeper discounts if you wait several days or a week for the stores to mark items all the way down to 75% off. The down side of waiting is that the item you want may be gone if you wait too long. If you really have to have it, you probably want to get it sooner rather than wait.

If there’s something that you want at Wal-Mart, you will definitely want to get there the first thing on December 26th because Wal-Mart attracts the die hard after Christmas shoppers who buy like hungry locusts.

You can often find good buys at grocery and drug stores a week or two after Christmas because there’s not as much demand for after Christmas items in those stores.

Here are some of the things to consider as you visit after christmas sales:

Buy new Christmas decorations for next year. This seems obvious to some of us, but if you’ve never thought about it, you can usually get lights, lawn decorations, indoor decorations and other holiday-specific items for 50-75% off right after Christmas. We like to add to our display every year and it is much less expensive to buy after Christmas this year rather than before Christmas next year. Even our Christmas tree was a 50% off after Christmas buy. (Don’t try this with live trees! They don’t keep well!

Buy “Baby’s First Christmas” items (pajamas, bibs, ornaments, etc.) for those friends and relatives expecting babies in the next year.

Purchase holiday craft items. Christmas ribbons, needlework, and other craft supplies are often marked down to 75% off. Get started on those projects and get them done early. Don’t forget to get enough red ribbon and craft supplies for Valentines day.

Buy your red Valentine’s Day and green St. Patrick’s Day candy on clearance after Christmas. You can also freeze Christmas chocolate for year-round baking.

Christmas isn’t just red and green any more. You can get every color under the rainbow now. If you are decorating a room or having a special party, such as an anniversary you can purchase your supplies for 75% off. I’ve also purchased things like specialty lights for my son who collects anything that will light up.

Purchase gifts for next Christmas, birthdays, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day and teachers’ gifts. You can often find wonderful gift bath sets that make great gifts for teachers at 50% off. There are also bath sets for kids, make up sets for girls and cologne and perfume for men and women that you can give for any occasion. I purchase several extra girls and boys gifts sets for the kids to take to birthday parties. I buy hubby’s cologne for the year (again, as a gift set) and give it to him on Father’s Day. My sister in law liked a particular large red candle that I happened to notice was on sale after Christmas. I purchased it for $2 instead of the $10 regular price.

If you have a wedding coming up, look for decorations with your wedding colors after Christmas. You can also get tablecloths and napkins for your household on clearance after Christmas. You can buy these at up to 75% off and use them every day.

Look for wrapping paper for other occasions. Stores have colored and white tissue paper and wrapping paper that isn’t necessarily just for Christmas. You can also buy Christmas paper for next to nothing after Christmas and save it for next Christmas or use it white side out for other holidays.

I buy the pre-packaged gingerbread kits that are now available for my kids. For $2 each, it is much easier to have the house already baked and rolled out. I save them for the kids to decorate next year. (Of course we don’t eat them.)

I buy about 3/4 of my gift items for the year the days and weeks after Christmas. By doing this, I save hundreds of dollars on gifts over the year.

source:livingonadime.com