Method Madness Marathon!! Sale Shopping!!

I thought I would do an easy Method Madness post for Saturday...some easy homework for you over the weekend, right? We don't want anything complicated!

I must say, one of the other largest money savers for my family is Sale Shopping!

Hmmm, you may ask. Even though you are getting items on sale, aren't you STILL spending money?

It is true, there are Sale Shoppers who buy ANY and ALL great deals they can find!! I can think of one of those people right off the top of my head...Hi Mom!! OK, I am just teasing my lovely mother. She is an avid sale shopper and has taught me everything I know. But, she and I do have a slightly different methodology about how we go about utilizing sales.

And, I wanted to explain how I utilize sales to my advantage as a family. BECAUSE, it is very easy to overspend when you find sales or to miss them altogether.

My first rule of thumb is that I make a list for the whole year of everyone that will need a gift. I list my family, nieces, nephews, cousins, the friends of my children, football coaches, Sunday school teachers...you name them, they are on my list. By making this list, it will keep you from buying items you don't need and thus overspending.

I then, categorize what I need to buy for them. Do I need something for Birthday, Christmas, Anniversary, etc, etc. Do I have Weddings coming up?

Finally, I put the budgeted amount next to their name of what we would ideally spend on them.

So, for example, I would list a friend of my child's that I know we usually go to their Birthday parties. We try to get between $20-$30 gifts for kids. Great!

Now, I got my list! I print this out and into my purse it goes. I carry it everywhere, at all times throughout the year! I am prepared to sale shop now! Yeah, let the fun begin!

My second rule of thumb, is that I try to only buy 75% off or more! This now means, I am getting the birthday presents for the many, many, many kids parties we are going to for $5 to $7, approx. What a difference this makes multiplied by all the many people you shop for during the year. And, all of these people are getting wonderful gifts vs. going out and buying an actual $5 toy.

For example, over the Holidays, my daughter had a birthday party to go to for another 4 year old little girl. The Barbie Diamond dolls were running around $20 over the Holidays. Well, my mom happened to call from Target the one day to tell me they had them marked down to $5. I told her to GRAB them!! I was able to give this little girl a $20, fancy-pancy Barbie doll for $5. That is cheaper than the simple Barbie dolls at the store sell for every day!

For my 1 year old, I had bought a Thomas the Train Take Along Track with trains on 75% off clearance after Christmas a previous year. It was just under $50 for this item regularly, and I got it for $12. We added a few trains for him ourselves, and his Christmas was essentially done with us spending hardly anything.

My third rule? Shop your favorite store weekly. It sounds like a pain, but believe me, it is fast. Well, unless you hit the mother of all sales. Then, well, it is worth the time spent in the store.

I have my favorite store, which is Target. Because I shop it weekly, I know where they put their clearance items and I can watch as items are getting marked down. One week they are 30%, a few weeks later, they are 50% off, etc, etc. I can be in and out of the store in 10 minutes, because I stick my kids in the cart and walk to all the clearance section. If there is nothing, I am done for the day and leave.

Take a look at my numbers from last year. I saved $2,917 on sales. This means, I paid approx $950 for just shy of $4,000 worth of merchandise!!! That is a HUGE savings to me and my family.

Of course, I budgeted almost $3,500 in gifts for people, but I did start stockpiling for 2009 last year. So, I currently have gifts in the basement for upcoming parties, etc.

Doesn't that number seem amazing? Sit down and write everyone you buy gifts for, the value you spend and then deduct 75% off. How much would you save?

It is so easy to sale shop if you have your list handy and know what you need.

Before I go, though, I did want to touch on some other helpful hints.

First, pull batteries out of any toys that have them in there. If you aren't going to give it as a gift for a year, you do NOT want the batteries to corrode.

Second, if an item does not work or is broken when you do give the gift, you cannot return it. Most stores have a 3 month policy or less. If they still have the product in stock, you could re buy it and return the older one with the new receipt. But, many times, an item you bought on clearance has changed...the box was redesigned, etc. In those cases, contact the manufacturer. I called Fisher Price when one of the toys I got wasn't working. It was a $30 item...and it just didn't work. They sent me a new item free and just told me to throw the old one away, since I had only paid $7 for it. They only made you return items if you paid over $15 for them. That was my son's TMX Elmo! Cheap birthday!

For those interested, here is my spreadsheet that I use to track my sale shopping. If you get a chance this weekend, your homework is to update this spreadsheet with your list, print it and stick it in your purse! Now, you are ready to hit the stores! And, don't forget.....this is a great time. Everyone is marking down their after Christmas items for sales...toys and clothes included!