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Thursday, December 17, 2009

Frugal Friday: Thinking Ahead to Next Year


So do you have your Christmas shopping done? We're very close to having everything bought, but we haven't wrapped a thing yet! That's okay though, because my husband is the world's best gift wrapper. He's so precise, and his packages are really beautiful. I probably drive him nuts with my quick wrapping when we wrap together!

Now that we're just about done shopping for this Christmas, I'm already thinking ahead to next year. Because there are so many amazing deals available right now, I don't want to miss out on anything that could be a real budget-saver down the road.

For example, I just saw that Amazon has some of their Fisher-Price Little People toys on a great sale! We don't really need any more gifts for Emma for Christmas, but her birthday will be here before we know it. I also have a new little niece who isn't quite ready for these toys yet, but they do store well! And there are always friends' birthday parties to plan for. So I may be taking advantage of some of these toy deals in order to save us money down the road.

Another way that we're planning ahead is in the wrapping paper department. Yes, we have more than enough wrapping paper for this year's gifts. But there's still a Hallmark $5 off any purchase of $5 or more printable coupon HERE. They are currently running a wrapping paper deal that ends up costing $.50 a roll when you buy 2. This is really nice wrapping paper too! If I waited for the after-Christmas 50% or 75% off sale on this paper, I would still be paying more than I would if I bought it right now. So I just bought a couple of rolls, and so did my husband. For $2, we ended up with 4 rolls of high-quality paper! (Wrapping paper deal details are HERE.)

I will probably be out doing some shopping right after Christmas too. I love Amy's idea of shopping for next year's gingerbread house when they're on deep-discount sales. We may even have to buy a new Christmas tree after Christmas. The lights don't all want to work at the same time on our current tree!

Have you started thinking about ways to save next year by taking advantage of this season's sales?

For more great frugal ideas, stop by Frugal Friday hosted by Life As MOM.

5 comments:

Christy said...

We had the same problem with our tree and just replaced the light strands. :) Easy enough (and less than the cost of buying a tree, even on clearance) unless you happen to have one where the lights on part of the branches and not strands at all.

Amy Rainey said...

December 26 is my favorite shopping day of the year. Bath and Body Works always has a HUGE sale, and I love to go there and stock up on gifts. Wal-Mart and Target are always on my list, too! It is a great time to stock up on hostess gifts!

Jennifer said...

Christy - Our tree has the lights as part of the braches. I didn't think about that when we bought it!

Amy - I didn't know about the Bath & Body Works big sale. Thanks!

Mrs. Little said...

I agree that there are great sales o right now and you don't have to wait for Boxing Day (Dec. 26th... It's a Canadian holiday up here, sort of like Black Friday).

I picked up some Christmas lights and gifts for H for her birthday coming up... I may even shop for Baby J even though his birthday isn't until summer!

Jessica said...

Great tips!

Last year we bought our gingerbread house to use for this year! I really need to be more organized and plan head! It will save us alot of money if I would!!!

*Have to check out Bath and Body Works too Dec. 26th!*