Simple Savings: Start a gift closet.
After discussing how to save by shopping after the holidays yesterday, that leads to another savings point. Start a gift closet. It can be a bin or a box or an actual closet. It doesn’t matter where. It simply matters that you do so.
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The concept is simple. Start a list of the people whom you give gifts to over the course of the year. Consider birthdays and Christmas – and including any other occasions that you know are coming like graduations or baptisms.
Next up, start shopping! When you see a good deal for someone that you know, pick it up and add it to your gift closet. Shop the holiday clearance section. Watch for deals on Amazon. Shop the weekly sale flyers. By shopping year round for good deals, you’ll be able to stretch a limited budget even further. I do recommend keeping a notebook of gifts purchased and for whom so you can remember if you’ve already purchased a gift for your sister’s Christmas present (or another like occasion).
I add to my gift closet on a regular basis. If I find a particularly good deal, I’ve been known to add it my gift collection without knowing whom it is for. Children’s birthdays come around yearly as does Christmas. I like knowing that I have gifts at the ready. Plus, it is so nice to know that when a birthday comes around, I don’t have to go to the store for last minute shopping. I simply have to go upstairs and get the gifts out of my closet.
By keeping a gift closet and shopping year round for gifts, I save myself money and time. Both of which are a great source of savings! Do you have a gift closet?
To read the previous tips in this series, you can do so here.
I have a gift closet, and agree with you – it is so handy to have gifts already available for people, purchased at a fraction of their usual price!
I also find when I am in a ‘shopping mood’ (happens rarely, but does happen!) throughout the year, I focus on what gifts I still need to find for people. I can then scour the shops looking for suitable gifts, which I can then cross off of my list. I find that this satisfies my need to shop.
My shopping mode (other than grocery shopping) doesn’t strike often either, but when it does, I can accomplish a lot! I’m glad to hear that I’m not the only one who stocks up in a gift closet, Belinda!