Tips for Shopping After-Holiday Clearance Sales

The holidays are over and many retail stores are marking down their leftover items at rock-bottom prices. If you enjoy saving money, you’ll want to get out into the retail stores to take advantage of all of their after-holiday clearance sales. With that said, I do have a few personal tips to share with all of you.

1. Don’t be tempted to run out the day after Christmas to shop or to return previously-purchased items. The stores will be overly-crowded and while there will be more marked-down items to choose from, they won’t be marked down to their lowest prices…just yet.

2. I find the best time to pick up those type’s of deals is after the New Year’s holiday. I typically will go out 2-3 days after we’ve celebrated the New Year and will find all kinds of different items for 70% to 90% off. If you have gift cards that you want to redeem, this is a great time to spend them. You’ll get more bang for your buck!

3. Don’t be too choosy on the items you want to pick up for next Christmas. What I mean by that is: Grab whatever “color” or “print” of holiday wrapping paper that they have left. Same goes with gift bags, ribbons, bows, gift tags, bag fillers, etc. Don’t limit yourself on certain colors, designs and printed themes. If you’re firm on that kind of stuff, you need to go out a day or two after the Christmas holiday to snag them up, but they’ll be offered at a higher price point than waiting until after the first of the year.

4. Draft up a shopping plan. Decide ahead of time which stores you want to visit and in which order you want to hit them. I like to make a day of it and start early in the morning, as soon as XYZ open’s its doors. I try to limit my time in each store, so that I hit all of the one’s on my shopping list. If you’re only setting aside 5 hours to power-shop, but have 4 stores to visit…you’ll want to allow yourself 1 hour to shop at each one.

5. Bring along a friend or two to help you shop! Shopping with a friend or two is a lot more fun! Plus, if you really want to save time…pack a brown bag lunch, a few bottles of water and grab-n-go snacks! This way you can power-shop, without having to stop.

6. Set a budget! Make a list of the type’s of items your looking for and how much you’re willing to spend for them. You can do some price comparison’s online, before you leave. When bargain shopping, it’s important to set a budget and to stay within it. Don’t be tempted to over-spend on things you don’t need.

7. Finally, clean out a spot in your home to store all of your newly purchased items before you go! Make sure your vehicle is cleaned-out and can easily hold all of your purchases too! Once you get home, take everything to their designated spot…for sorting and storing later on.

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