I am now a firm believer that the best deals happen after Christmas and New Years Day. I know that some people are committed to going out on Black Friday to shop all the sales, and since I've only ever done it myself a handful of times, I'm probably not a good authority on the subject of Black Friday shopping...regardless, it seems like the "sales" that are meant to entice you to spend loads of money before the holidays are becoming less and less attractive (to me, at least). I think that's because 40% - 50% off no longer screams "SALE!!" to me since, with a little planning and effort, I can get a lot of items for 60% to 90% off (and even for FREE!!!) between samples, store sales, coupons, and gift cards...(well now I just sound really hoity-toity and I definitely don't mean to!!) Anyhow, my post today is just to draw your attention to some fabulous shopping that I did after New Years Day, and to remind you that it's a great idea to plan a year in advance for gift giving and packaging.
My trip took me to my favorite store, Target, where they still had quite a few Christmas items on clearance as well as some other treasures that I picked up on my way around the store.
First of all, there is the gray sweater in the lower corner of the above photo. I picked it up because it's something I can wear to work but is also good to wear with a pair of jeans. I find myself searching for tops I can wear to work and just around town, so this was definitely a good find. It was 50% off, but at $12.48 on clearance was a pretty good price for a nice pullover.
Next, I found these tablecloths, which are absolutely gorgeous! Our dining room table is one that is shaped like an octagon when it's collapsed, but expands to a large oval shape which can probably seat anywhere from 6 to 10 people. The original price of the round tablecloth was $14.99, on clearance for $4.48, and the oblong tablecloth was originally $18.99 priced down to $5.68. Both tablecloths were marked down by 70%!! As a side note, I almost didn't see these - they were mixed in with all the other tablecloths that weren't on sale, so had I not been looking pretty hard for the red clearance sticker, I might have passed them right over. Train your eyes to look for the clearance stickers!!!
These iPad covers were the two items that made me the most excited. They were the lone survivors on a display with "best gifts for the holidays" and I was surprised someone else hadn't already picked them up. I grabbed them and headed right for the price scanner to check the prices. I couldn't believe my luck...they were each 90% off!!!! The black leather one was originally $24.99 and the hot pink one was originally $19.99. On clearance they were $2.49 and $1.99, respectively, which is definitely my kind of price!!
To close out my deal finding, I picked up some Christmas gift wrapping supplies for next year. I was able to find four large "Merry Christmas" bags ($.24 each), two 10 sheet packs of tissue paper ($.24 each), one small/tall floral gift bag ($.99), three small bags ($.10 each), five gift sacks with monkeys on the front ($.05 each), and three packages of 3-pack gift card envelopes ($.29 each). I bought these particular items mostly because they closely resembled what supplies I used for Christmas 2013, plus, it's always good to have some Christmas wrapping choices available!
At checkout, I redeemed a $25 Target gift card that I had, so that helped my total immensely. I ended up paying $7.69 out of my own pocket, after sales and the gift card were redeemed. So here's some math for you, and it's not perfect but it's pretty close, I didn't account for tax and all that so I hope you're not offended...The total retail value of all my items came to $134.35. After discounts and my $25 gift card, I paid $7.69. That means that I saved a total of approximately (because I'm really not a math wiz) 94.3%!!!! And that's the kind of saving that really makes me happy!
Money Saving Tip: do your shopping after Christmas!!!
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