I know some of you saw the title of this post and winced. I know, I know, it's just barely July and beach season is in full swing. You're not ready to think about Christmas yet. But hear me out... the summer is a great time to start your holiday shopping, especially for your little ones. My daughter is only 2, so she's not yet old enough to have a wish list. That makes things in the present department a little easier. However- even if you have older children you can still take advantage of summer savings. Here are some ideas.
1.) School supplies.
If you have a budding artist at home there is no better time to stock up on art supplies than during the back to school sales. Last year I bought my daughter a backpack and filled it with fun art projects for my daughter. (You can see the post on that here) But even if you aren't making a big gift out of it, crayons, markers and the like make great stocking stuffers.
2.) Summer toy clearances.
Many stores are now doing a version of Black Friday sales in July. Amazon and Target are great examples. You can find a great list of Target's toy clearance sales going on now on the krazy coupon lady website. Target Toy clearance
3.) Clothing.
Right now stores are trying to make room for the new fall items that will come out for back to school shopping, which leads to great deals on off season clothes. You can take advantage of the back to school sales as well, but check the clearance racks for extremely marked down sweaters and winter gear. (After 4th of July is also a great time to think of next summer's needs. Pick up a bathing suit that's a size or two bigger than your little ones are right now.)
4.) Spreading out the payments.
My husband and I are firm believers in not leaving a balance on our credit cards. Thankfully we have never been in a situation where we are unable to pay our cards in full. So in order to avoid interest charges as well as not getting whacked with an enormous bill in January- buying presents slowly throughout the year helps spread out the payments.
5.) "Summer toys"
Many toys that are considered summer toys go on clearance at the end of August. But there are plenty of those toys that can be used throughout the year if you're creative enough. For example in our house we have outdoor balls that do not come in the house and indoor balls that don't go outside. You can get those large rubber balls for less than $2 at the end of the summer. There are also a lot of pool or water table toys that can be used as bath toys. Christmas aside for a moment, I also like to pick up things at the end of summer for the next year that tend to wear out. You can store brand new bubbles, swimmies and pool noodles in your garage and next year not only will you not have to worry about buying new ones, but you will have gotten them all for pennies! (Keep those clearance stickers on- it's like a little high to remember the deal you got when all the circulars are showing those same items for nearly 90% more!)
This is the first post in a series about holiday shopping that I will be doing as well as possibly a few posts about the gifts I make for my daughter. Stay tuned! Now forget about the cold and go enjoy the vitamin D and pool time!
