Many people think once the year is over, and December is gone that the sales and savings stop. This is simply not true. Most stores are in a massive inventory reduction mode to get rid of all the old product. This is not exclusive to discount chains. Most stores in the mall, and retail chains are also getting rid of their 2007 merchandise.
The New Year brings new orders, new inventory and a major store clearance event. It doesn’t take much to find them either. Often you will see a huge red or yellow banner hanging on the outside of the store that will read “Clearance Event” or “Year End Clearance”.
These events can be real money savers on everything from clothing to appliances. It is a great time to stock up and save money on the things that you perhaps have wanted or needed. However, it is important to remember not to go overboard.
Today we visited a big retail chain that carries a lot of different types of items. Mostly stuff for your kitchen, bedroom and bathroom. We were able to get the Christmas scented candles in a jar for $1.00 each and these are the big ones that burn for a really long time. We picked up enough for teacher’s gifts and a couple of “last minute” gifts next year.
While we did focus a little bit on year-end Christmas stuff, that was 75% off retail, we did mostly gift and wish list shopping. We picked up a bunch of items like pretty frames, candle and bath sets, and some other odds and ends and spent less than $30.00 on all of it. We came home with three of those HUGE bags full of stuff.
With as many kids as we have, we like to stock up on after season clearance sales on clothing. We dropped by a retail chain today to see if they were having a clearance event. They sure are. We are planning to return this weekend and pick up a bunch of things. Sweaters were as low as $5.00, shirts as low as $2-$3 and even winter scarves, hats and mittens were marked way down below their normal cost.
Don’t assume that since it is called a “year end” event that it is over once the year ends. These clearance events will take place most of January to drastically reduce inventory and make room for the new stuff which will start arriving in early February.
Nicole Humphrey writes articles for the Scrapbooking Blog and for the Frugal Blog. She also guest blogs on a variety of topics. You can read more of her articles by clicking here.
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