A few weeks before the holidays, my five-year-old was invited to a birthday party by one of his friends from Sunday school. The week had been really hectic, and there was no way we would have found the time to go out shopping for a nice birthday present that didn’t cost an arm and a leg. Fortunately, I had the perfect solution. I just reached into my gift closet and pulled out a great gift.
A gift closet is a great concept in frugality. It allows you to pre-purchase gifts throughout the year, whenever there is a great sale, deal or clearance event. For example, the deals blog tells you how to get board games at 60 percent off. That is a great way to stock your gift closet. A wonderful time to purchase items for your gift closet is right after Christmas, when toys, books, clothes and the leftover gifts are heavily discounted.
Many time you will just happen upon a great gift item when you are out and about. I once found a pirate k’nex set at a toy store closing event during the summer. It was discounted at 75 percent off. I just saw that same set at full price in the retail store during the holidays.
Don’t be intimidated by the word “closet.” a gift closet can be anywhere you store your treasures. Some ideas for storage include under the bed, in a box in the basement or garage, or anywhere that is out of the way but not too inaccessible. You don’t want to forget that you have great gifts and wind up accidentally buying new ones at the last minute.
You can choose to stock your gift closet with items for everyone on your list, just for friends or just for immediate family. It is up to you. Just make sure that if you are pre-purchasing holiday gifts for your kids that they don’t know about the gift closet, or at least pick a different location for their gifts.
The convenience of having a gift closet just can’t be beat. And the savings are nice, too.
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