Have you started your Holiday shopping? A few years after we got married I began buying for the holiday’s and other special occasions throughout the year in order to spread out our spending so we were not “hit” so hard at year in. After we began our International adoption in 2004 I had to find a way to save money so I began stockpiling my gifts. I eliminated as many gifts as possible by telling friends and co-workers that I was unable to exchange with them anymore and really cut my shopping list down to just family.
The goal of stockpiling is purchase your items when they hit rock bottom. This can be applied to shopping for all occasions! I have a list of who I buy for, I have a budget of how much I can spend per person and I begin shopping for the following year the day after Christmas. However for the past two years I actually have started purchasing for the following year on December 23rd. I started on December 23rd with Kohl’s because they have fabulous sales on the 23rd and 24th and last year you actually earned Kohl’s cash on those days!
In order to stockpile you need a location to store your gifts. My hubby built me a huge window seat and that is where I “house” my gift giving stockpile. In addition I have overflow in two rubbermaid containers that are hidden in one of our closets.
In order to purchase items to use as gifts at rock bottom you need to not only buy items that are on sale you need to also use a coupon and buy clearance. It is quite surprising how many “toy” coupons exist! You never know when a great sale or clearance will come along. These matched with clearance items mean rock bottom savings!
I do a lot of my Christmas shopping at Kohl’s. They have great toy sales throughout the year and on top of that they offer up to 30% off coupons to the store credit card holders. They often have toys up to 50% off and then you will get a 10-30% coupon to use on top of that. What is even better is that they clearance toys and other items all of the time and matched with a store discount on top you can get rock bottom deals all of the time. Kohl’s is my favorite store for major savings when it comes to Christmas shopping.
In addition I purchased a lot of toys at Kmart during their clearance sale. This is a great time to stockpile for birthday’s too!
You can also do well at picking up clearance toys at Target. In July 2009 I pick up several toys at 90% off! My best deal was the Tag learning system that I picked up for $13.99 after clearance and coupon. It is regularly $49.99! I also found tag books for .98 cents to $2.99! Always check for clearance items when you are at Target.
Don’t forget consignment stores! I have picked up items for my son and though they are not “in the box” they work well as gifts from Santa. You can really get a lot for your money when consignment stores mark down their toys.
I have been able to “fill” my hubby’s stocking for free this year by shopping at Walgreens and CVS and by signing up for freebies and samples online!
In addition to “buying” gifts we enjoy making crafts and baked goods and of course I make jewelry for many of the people on my list 
My best advice is start shopping on December 26th (or earlier) for next year. Late January and February are great deep mark down times. Use Kohl’s cash that you earn to purchase gifts as that brings your out of pocket expenses down. Shop for Toys in July as they get clearanced to make room for the new toys coming out. If you change your way of thinking of how you shop you will be able to save BIG for the Holidays!
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Love it, I caught the tail end of the Target sale this year. I need to start putting it in my calendar. I think they do it in Feb too
I love stockpiling gifts! It ‘s the thrill of the awesome deals. I mostly stockpile kids stuff like toys and clothes when they are 80% off and more! Just hit some awesome sales at Target for toys!
Great Post! I have the top to shelves in my closet, and the top shelf in the guest room closet designated for my gift stockpile! I just picked up 2 gifts yesterday for a friend’s soon to be 1 year old for less than $5 total.
I LOVE stockpiling for the holidays. I start shopping the day after each holiday!
I have 3 totes full of gifts stuffed in my closet. I have my husbands gifts in there too. He never looks in them. He thinks it’s all stuff for the kids.
Another way I found for kids, is to hit the after Halloween sales and create a “dress up” chest for girls with Halloween costumes for as little as .25 cents each at Walmart. My daughter loved that gift the most that Christmas!
That is an great idea and we have a niece that is the perfect age for dress up this Christmas.
I also decided since we have gotten away from grab bag for all the kids I am doing stocking for all of them for both sides of family. That would be a total of 19 plus 2 significant others for the older girls. I bought the stockings after Christmas for 5o cents and I am couponing the things to fill them with. Girls are easy but the guys are a little harder.
I TRY to stockpile for the holidays – - I usually end up forgetting that I’ve bought things though b/c I forget where I put things!! I really need a basement!!!! LOL
I now realize that I was too narrow minded about my Christmas stock pile, I always limited my purchases to things that I associate with Christmas. Therefore I never picked up those super cheap end of summer clearance items.
I will also stockpile bagged candy. M&Ms last a long time and stockpile well for Easter, etc.
Great ideas
I stockpile for the holidays too!!
I watch for Toy markdowns on Amazon – have gotten some great deals plus free shipping. I also use the points from my debit card to get gift cards for some holiday gifts.
Great ideas – I am going to work on this too.
I am so excited to start saving with coupons. I’ve always failed in the past, I need to make it work now!
Just gave my grandson a $49.50 winter coat for his birthday that I got for $8.49 at the Children’s Place after Christmas. Of course, I also got him a $39.95 toy that I paid full price for at Toys ‘r Us! LOL!
I usually pick up a gift here and there when I catch a good buy to have on hand for the unexpected party or for times. I just have a small stock pile. Really need to do better.
Having a nice stockpile of gifts allows me to help my kids out when they want to give a couple of their friends a gift.
I caught some sales early this year, but haven’t purchased too many things for my holiday stockpile yet… Great things to keep in mind, though, for next year (since I am new to stockpiling)!
I am new to stockpiling. I love Stockpiling Moms ideas and all of the readers ideas. This has given me great ideas…thanks!
For the giveaway ~ I read this back when I started reading the blog. Very helpful for the newbies!
great ideas, thank you!
I never thought about shopping that far in advance but if thats where the deals are its never too early!!!
This is a new thought for me….I just started doing this not that long ago, and although I have a long way to go in learning the art of stockpiling gifts, every little bit helps! It sure cuts down the stress and eases the budget! Thanks for the great post!
YES! I love to hit the stores the day after any holiday to see what deals I can find! I have gotten some gorgeous christmas tree decorations from Michaels for about .25 each
I have done this for years, since my son and daughter were young and now for the grandbabies. My daughter started doing it when she got married. Here it is almost Christmas again, and she has almost all of her shopping done. Her husband used to gripe about her buying stuff through the year, but at Christmas when most of the gifts have been purchased, he’s happy. We do this for birthdays too. Can’t believe more people don’t.
Very helpful!
I once put all my boys Christmas gifts in their closets. They never saw them. This year JCP kept sending my $10 off $10. I got four major gifts for free when they were on sale. Kohl’s is the best though.
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