Money saving shopping tips – January sales edition

Now that all the festivities have calmed down, it is the right time to start shopping for next Christmas. Certain items for Christmas and New Year never go out of trend and so it is smart to buy these items after the season ends. If you have enough storage space at home, it is wise to shop and stock up on these items now. Since I work in a supermarket, I have seen so many customers stock up things for next year. This way they save way so much money and will also be half prepared for next year. It also allows you to beat the rush of festive shopping.

Things that are likely to go on sale now that Christmas and New Year celebrations are over:

• Wrapping paper – now is the right time to buy seasonal wrapping paper as the prices get slashed to less than half the price. Some wrapping papers go down to as low as 20p from £2.
• Cards and gift tags – similar to wrapping paper, Christmas cards and gift tags are so cheap at this time of the year. You could get gift tags for 10p per pack.
• Paper plates and napkins – seasonal designed ones
• Christmas lights, seasonal decorations, figurines and other little Christmas ornaments – they get sold for nearly half their price
• Bedding and sheets – especially seasonal designed ones
• Many winter clothes will also start to go on sale – there may not be a huge variety to choose from but it is always worth a visit as you never know what you will find
• Many clothing stores still have their Boxing Day sales up until January. I went shopping yesterday and I found really good deals at Next and Gap.
• The best buy would be gift sets and hampers – gift sets prices go down to really good prices so you could stock them up now. Since these gifts sets are usually perfumes, bath and body sets, spa gift sets etc, they are suitable for gifting to people all year round. You could buy these ones now if you know you have parties coming up or you could just buy it for yourself.

Now that most stores are looking to clear out their Christmas stock, they slash their prices so that they get sold off quick. Go to the larger supermarkets/superstores as they would have a wider range of goods to choose from. These tips are not only for those living on a budget, but for everyone trying to shop smart. If you have the storage space, then use it efficiently as you will definitely save a lot of money by shopping smart.