It’s that time! We’ve all survived the holidays (some of us in better shape than others) and now it’s time to … be bombarded by post-holiday sale campaigns. There are some pros and some cons here. The pros are that if you’re working on a budget for 2011, you can get some amazing deals on items that you will then be able to use all year long. The cons, however, are that it is easy (and likely) that you will use the post holiday sales as a reason to buy items that you don’t actually need. Here are our favorite three tips for taking advantage of post holiday sales rather than being taken advantage of by them!
Look for Sale Items That Are Practical
After Christmas, there will be a lot of items on sale that are impractical: more holiday decorations, trendy items that will be outdated by March, high-ticket items that you don’t really need. There will also be lots of practical items: non-perishable food that simply has holiday packaging, linens and electronics that you may need to replace (though we emphasize the “need to replace” over the “need to upgrade” whenever possible). Possibly take advantage of these sales to stock up on items for the rest of the year while the prices are low.
Use the Twenty-Four Hour Rule
For the non-practical items, don’t fall prey to impulse buying. If you feel the need to purchase something, take twenty-four hours to think about it. This isn’t Black Friday. The after-holiday sale items aren’t limited quantities that will be gone in the blink of an eye. You can take your time to make decisions. After all, there’s a reason why they’re on after-holiday sale. It’s because there’s too much stock and it’s not moving. Don’t feel rushed.
Set a Limit
Most importantly, set a limit that is within your monthly or annual budget for how much you’re willing to spend on after-holiday sales and then don’t go over it, no matter what! The budget is the key to everything!
We wish you happy after-holiday shopping as well as happy after-holiday “just saying no” to shopping. However you handle the post-holiday sales, do it with an informed decision in mind!
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