Christmas in April? Some of us are already shopping
Posted
Apr 09 2008, 12:03 PM
by
Donna Freedman
Rating:
Here's a scary thought: only 233 shopping days until Christmas.
Don't blame me for bringing it up. Some readers of the Smart Spending message board are already buying -- frugally, of course. A reader who posts as "SS18612" started a thread called "Never too early to think Christmas," and shared a couple of fun, practical and cheap ideas.
The "winter car kit" was inspired by a clearance sale at CVS: gloves, hat, folding trunk snow shovel, retractable snow broom and ice scraper for just $3.45. "I will add a fleece blanket, some kitty litter and a gallon of de-icer," writes SS, whose grown kids will each get a kit.
Each year they also get "grocery-store boxes," computer-paper boxes filled with favorite foods and toiletries that SS gets free or almost free thanks to sales and coupons. "It's amazing what you can get together for a little money," SS says.
Clearance sales rule
Others also had tips to offer:
• "Daisybasket" shops all year long for a "gift closet" stash that includes birthday, Christmas, wedding and new-baby items. Many are bought with specific people in mind, but when last-minute occasions occur "you can just go shopping in your closet."
• "Librian" has picked up clearance items like cut-glass candle holders, a picture frame and a cordless phone. "My mom is always letting her grandkids play with the phone and she goes through two or three a year."
• "Kat1961" is prowling for on-sale craft supplies. "It is a cheap way to provide gifts made with loving care, and it keeps my hands busy because I am (trying) to quit smoking."
• "ManyaP" has a twofold attack: freebies plus cash. She'll use rewards programs to get gift cards and set aside $30 from each paycheck for Christmas expenses. "That will include the meals, gifts, stockings, decorations, everything."
• Reader "Jestjack" scored a killer deal on printer paper. By combining a sale price, a coupon, reward dollars and store credit from trading in printer ink cartridges, he paid just 52 cents for a case of the stuff. Yes, 52 cents for 5,000 sheets. What student or writer wouldn't want a ream of paper for Christmas?
Bah, humbug?
Another reader, "Cmerighe," called Christmas "the biggest commercial holiday of the year" and claimed that for many young families, Christmas means "the birth of their credit card debt."
I can understand why some people might think that way. Strictly speaking, I feel that way myself. Last December I wrote an essay about why breaking the bank for Christmas is not a good idea.
Yet I also derive great joy from giving to relatives, friends and the family my sister and I "adopt" each Christmas. Like the readers I mentioned earlier, I do this on a budget.
This weekend, for example, I'll attend the "Superfluity" rummage sale at a Seattle-area church. Four years ago at Superfluity I paid $3 for the desk at which I'm writing this. With luck, I'll find some (smaller!) gifts there.
The yard-sale season is about to begin. I've found a number of holiday and birthday presents this way, some of them still shrink-wrapped. I'm also a big fan of clearance sales; for my great-nephews, I recently found a $4.99 set of 10 board games based on the "Go Diego Go!" cartoon elevision show and a $2.50 firetruck.
Like Jestjack, I haunt office-supply stores with my spent inkjet printer cartridges. Last year I used them to "buy" art supplies, craft kits and the infamous 99-cent-a-pound Starbucks coffee.
Drugstore single-check rebate programs let me get free or almost-free lip balm, scented body washes and other toiletries. I use MyPoints to get free gift cards and My Coke Rewards to get free movie tickets. These and other freebie programs are great for stocking stuffers.
Having a "gift closet" or whatever you call it -- mine is a $15 cedar chest bought at a yard sale -- allows you to maximize your dollars. The more carefully you shop, the easier it is to give.
And if you should experience a personal economic downturn, or if you're trying to meet a specific financial goal, it's helpful to look through your gift cache every now and then. It's reassuring to realize how little time and money you'll need to spend next Black Friday.
