Saturday, January 26, 2008

Christmas Shopping Report

A few weeks ago, I decided to challenge myself (any anyone who wanted to join in) to start working on their Christmas shopping, and shop all year from clearance racks so that you could get the very best deals.

Like most things in life, once I set out on a mission, I become very determined to complete it (sometimes too determined) and so I am almost finished shopping. Other than my father-in-law and a couple of secret santa gifts, all gifts outside of my home are now completely off my list. I believe I spent under $150 for all of the gifts I have spent this far, including many gifts for my own children. I was very excited to see my gift closet becoming so full so very quickly.

As a second result of finding so many wonderful deals, I have also purchased many of the birthday gifts that I have to have for my nieces and nephews for the upcoming year. I also bought a few extra things for children that are the ages of my children, so when we get those last minute birthday party invites, I am not scrambling to come up with a gift (which always seems to mean that you pay more than you normally would have).

I had not thought out all of the ways that this way of gift buying could save me money in the long run, but now that I have a great stash of gifts, I am already seeing the wonders of this plan. Although, I know that this concept is not a new one, I simply did not realize how much wonderful stuff is available at the end of Christmas.

On another note, right after Christmas on clearance, Walmart had the "Ripstick" skateboards on clearance for $35. They had TONS of them. Just last week, I was in the store, and they were already back up to $70+. Their clearance didn't last too long, but the $70 is still cheaper than the $96 they were during December. Amazing how quickly their prices change!

7 comments:

Melissa said...

That is awesome! How's the food budget coming?

Many Blessings,
M.

Unknown said...

Food Budget is coming along great! I am up to about $65, I guess I need to update that! :)

Anonymous said...

You are doing great!

Michie said...

I am amazed that you have almost finished your Christmas shopping for this year! I was inspired by your idea enough to get two little gifts at Hallmark for $6 that would have been about $22 - but I can't imagine almost being finished in January! I'm impressed!

Anonymous said...

What an awesome idea! I sort-of did this by making "early purchases" of things I'd come across, thinking "Oh, so-and-so would really like this..." But to commit to making a list! Very cool.

Tammy and Parker said...

Uh. Okay. The next time you see something as amazing as a ripstick for $35.00....could ya email me? I haven't been able to shop deals in sooo long.

But I have made it very clear that this summer each Saturday morning is MY time to yard sale. That is how we are doing a lot of our stockpiling this year.

You did amazingly well!

Tammy and Parker

Lee said...

I make a committment every year to do as much as I can either homemade or bought on clearance. I love reading your posts. It's always fun to meet another bargain hunter.