Here is Georgine’s first post of the year…lots of good advice.
January is White Sale month. This means linens and home decorating items, in addition to storage and closet items, will be discounted. You can rely on stores like Macy’s, Wal-Mart, and Overstock.com to help organize your home and still help you to stick to your budget. Usually the bigger the store the bigger the discounts.
You will still find holiday leftovers at greatly reduced prices. These will be very welcome next year when you pull them out, and, if you are like me, you’ll forget what you bought and be happily surprised. If you are in stores that take coupons, use them. Just because an item is on clearance doesn’t mean you can’t use a coupon and save even more.
Of course, after the holidays everyone is on a diet! You will find great deals on fitness equipment and diet foods. Sporting goods stores will offer sales and specials.
Winter clothing clearance is making way for spring fashions. Stock up on warm weather-wear, hats, scarves, and gloves. Save some for next year or this year’s guests that come unprepared.
Watch for deep discounts in HDTV’s right before the Super Bowl. A great place to start would be Best Buy.
Just about everyone receives a gift card as a holiday present. While most don’t expire, always read the fine print in case they do and file them by expiration date from nearest to furthest away. Some may lose value after a certain period of time, so be aware. Did you know, most retailers welcome gift cards because, contrary to popular belief that they are “easy money” for retailers, general accounting rules don’t allow merchants to book those sales until the goods and services are delivered? If you received a gift card for a store you can’t use, there are several sites where you can sell your card. PlasticJungle.com and GiftCardRescue.com will pay you 85%-92% of the face value if they sell your card plus they have a partnership with Amazon.com that gives you an extra 5% if you swap it for an Amazon.com gift card. It pays to visit these sites too if you have a gift card and want to purchase something that costs more than the value of your card. Simply buy an additional card from them, at a discount, rather than pay the store the difference in cash. This way you will save on your purchase.
Always buy gift cards from legitimate sites that guarantee their cards are genuine. Beware of buying on sites such as Craigslist.com that don’t have money-back guarantees.
In the supermarket there will be specials on finger foods and soda. Try to find coupons to go along with the deals. Lots of stores also have canned goods at terrific prices especially if you buy in quantity.
Keep warm; take this time to sort through your coupons. Organize them and toss any that expired in 2011. This way you are always prepared for a sale!
