If you have kids this time of year can bring with it a mix of joy and anxiety. I personally love this time of year but it seems laced with panic, stress, and anxiety.
Where do we go for Thanksgiving dinner?
Who do we invite if we host it?
Do we try and do something separate for dessert?
When do I start Christmas shopping?
What should my budget be?
Well, you get the picture.
Now, family schedules aside, this time of year does not have to be the gray-hair inducing circus of the past. There are so many options when it comes to shopping. You can go in-store or on-line and many brick and mortar stores are price-matching nowadays. The consumer can really win big if you start early, don't mind taking the time to price-shop, and have a good solid idea of what you are looking for. Take it from me, browsing through an on-line store is even more dangerous than wandering through Target with no real idea of what you are there to buy.
For the next few weeks I am going to be sharing with you my holiday shopping-both hits and misses.
First up: July Clearance at Target
Yes, it is several months before the Christmas season, but I have found over the past couple of years that Target has really good Toy clearance in July. Even Legos go on sale. You have a couple of ways you can go about your clearance shopping. First you can find the items you know will be hits with whoever is on your gift list and enjoy the fact that it is 30% off the original price. The second way you can go about it, is scouting out what is there and wait to see just how low the prices will get. Be warned though; toys like Legos, Duplos, and other really popular toys might not last long enough on the shelves to get beyond the 30% off. This year I didn't wait it out because my kids are really into the popular toys.
I picked up a Frozen Elsa Doll that sings with a light up dress:
Original price: $34.99
On Clearance for:$ 24.48 (30% off)
I used it as a gift for my 2 year old daughters birthday in September.
Lego Duplos, Princess Sophia set
Original Price: $24.99
Clearance Price:$17.48
Lego Superhero Guardians of the Galaxy set
Clearance price:$69.98 (30% off)
Rock 'em sock 'em game
Clearance price:$14.34 (30% off)
Now the above Lego set I mentioned-is listed at Target now at $55.99 so buy getting it in July when it was on "clearance" I ended up paying $10 MORE. So, that sucks for me and goes to show that sometimes snatching up an item like that on clearance is not as great of a deal as you would think. I also did a quick check on the return/exchange policy Target has for clearance items. They will NOT make price adjustments for items purchased on clearance. So, even if my return window hadn't passed, I wouldn't be able to get that $10 knocked off.
*Also worth noting*
My husband found that when going in the store to purchase a Lego Star Wars set, it was more expensive that the price we saw on-line. Be sure to check the stores site (especially Target)to see if there is a price difference. My husband showed the cashier and she gave him the on-line price.
As it stands I have a lot of shopping left to do but I'm not panicking yet.
I have have 5 kids and buying gifts for that many people can get really expensive especially if you don't bother checking prices on things before you buy. It's important to be organized and patient. I believe in starting earlier than December because most of us make choices we regret when we are in a hurry.
I start with an Excel spreadsheet. Mine was actually a template that came with the program.
I highlighted a couple of areas on the bottom. They show your budget, which you set yourself, and then the area that shows how much you have spent and how much you have remaining in your budget.
I really like how quick and easy it is to see where I am budget wise throughout my shopping process.
We have it set for $500 which works out to be roughly $100 a kid. Now, that isn't the rule by any means. The older kids usually get gifts that are more expensive because that just seems to be how the world works. Lego sets are expensive- recently my husband dropped about $75 on a set that had about 760 pieces. We could probably buy our 2 year old 3 decent gifts for that price because she is happy with dolls and stuffed animals.
If you notice each child is listed and there are sections for the gift name, gift price, the store or site you plan on going to, and a couple of other columns that might not need to be there. I use this sheet to make sure I am getting the gift for the best price.
Where do you look when comparing prices?
Once I have a really good idea of the actual gifts (in this example I will use a Lego set my son wants) The LEGO 75104 Star Wars Kylo Rens Command Shuttle. Now, I start by throwing that into my Google search bar and you get teh typical sites like Toy's R Us and Target and Amazon. Lets compare those prices shall we?
Target and Toy's R Us both have this item listed as $119.99. This of course is not taking into account sales or coupons available. Usually though, Legos are excluded from many coupons and promotions.
On Amazon
As you can see the price isn't that much different.
This isn't always the case, but Lego sets, especially the big and popular ones, tend to be very similar in price at every store you go to whether it's an on-line retailer or not.
Now, if you are lucky enough to have kids who go for the items that go on sale like Barbie dolls, action figures etc. then price comparison will usually save you more than $0.99. Tomorrow I will go on the hunt for some toys that are geared towards girls ages 4-6.
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