(Photo credit: Kris de Curtis)
The holidays will be here before we know. (Can you believe it?!) And after the holidays, many stores will deeply clearance their Christmas and winter items. Combined with coupons, this can be a great time to stock up on household items and food for free or very inexpensive.
For example, in mid-January last year, my Kroger had three shopping carts filled with winter fragrance air fresheners, all marked down for $1 or less. Combined with coupons, I was able to get many air fresheners for free. I also had a similar experience at Giant the week following Christmas last year. They had all the Christmas print toilet paper and paper towels marked down for less than a dollar and with coupons, I was able to stock up for free. (I don’t really care if our toilet paper has little Santas all over it in April.)
Some items that are often deeply discounted after the holidays:
-baking items
-cereal (hot and cold) in seasonal boxes
-candy
-packaged snacks like cookies and crackers
-sparkling juices
-air fresheners
-hot beverage products like coffee and tea
-paper products such as tissues, toilet paper, and paper towels
-snack and storage bags
-cookie mixes and refrigerated dough
-nuts
-disposable items like plastic cups and paper plates
-coffee creamers
I have learned in the past to start looking for coupons for these items early . Start now! Keep your eyes peeled in the stores for tearpads and blinkie machines. Sign up for online coupon offers for relevant items. But make sure you pay attention to coupon expiration dates. Remember, for the best deals, you will need the coupon to be valid in late December and early January.
This may seem like awfully early planning, but I’ve found in the past that a little planning now can save big bucks later!
Christmas is absolutely my favorite time of the year and I’m beginning my Christmas preparations now, so stay tuned in the coming months for more information on how to save during the holidays.
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thanks for the tip!! I started couponing this year and the heads up is GREAT!
I was able to get a great wedding gift for my cousin last year during the holiday clearance stuff. She got married in March, but now, already has a box to do a girls holiday luncheon etc w/ table cloth, napkins, paper dessert plates and guest towels, as well as a little paper Christmas tree for decoration. I also included some favorite recipes for luncheon fare. So all she needs to do now is use the china she got and put a few things together. I am with you, D, I LOVE the Christmas holidays!
I agree completely! Though it seems early, it’ll be Christmas so soon. Planning ahead can help save you a lot of money. In addition to using post-holiday sales to save money on items you’ll need later in the year, it’s also a great idea to start thinking now about what you’ll need for Thanksgiving and Christmas, so that you can find the best price. We do a Thanksgiving tailgate every year, so I know I’m going to need paper plates, lots of aluminum foil, paper towels, and so on, but if I wait until the Wednesday before I will certainly pay a lot more for those items. But if I start looking now, I can wait for a sale, use coupons and get them for much less.
Plus, I love the holidays, so starting to think about them now is kinda fun. :)
(PS – I run a deals site called CheapTweet and we’re already seeing lots of holiday deals at http://cheaptweet.com )