How many of you are building a gift closet? We have one and it has literally saved me at least a half dozen times this past year.
With an 8 year old that gets invited to birthday parties almost every other week, it’s a necessity for us to have stuff on hand – just in case.
A gift closet can be invaluable when it comes to providing non-personal gifts for those last minute birthdays, events and baby showers. Why?
Because it allows you to have something ready without having to run to the store in a hurry to try to find the right thing, thus spending money on something you did not plan for.
Here are some tips to getting your personal gift closet started.
Pick a spot to store your gifts. It doesn’t even have to be a closet. It can simply be a plastic tub you keep in your garage. Ours is a spare bedroom – top shelf, in the closet. High enough so the boys can’t reach it – but great for me to be able to “see” what we have.
Create a specific space for your gifts to keep them organized and separate from your own family’s things.
Make a list of how many known gift occasions. This will help you have a good idea of what events to shop for. Also, take into account birthday parties your child may be attending.
Follow frugal blogs and watch for deals. Many frugal bloggers (including mine!) alert you to deals online and off at chain stores and online retailers like Amazon. Snag good deals while they are hot even if you don’t have a particular person in mind for the gift. Also, make sure to sign up for a free trial for Amazon Prime so when these deals come around, you can avoid paying shipping on many of them.
Check out Amazon’s daily deals. Sometimes you can find great items on sale that are only on sale for a couple hours. Usually these are heavy discounts of 50% off or more and often come with free shipping with prime membership.
Coupon for beauty and health products to make gift baskets with. If you do it effectively, you can often get these items for free and then all is left to do is buy baskets to place them in as needed.
These baskets work great for birthdays, baby showers, mother’s day and so on. Sears oftentimes has the Craftsman Tool Tote sin Pink, & Black/Red as low as $9.99 – with FREE pick up. They work double duty for gift basket containment AND for later use – perhaps crafts? Scrapbooking?
Shop after holiday sales for things like art sets, do it yourself craft kits and so on. Kids love to get these as gifts and they generally work for both boys and girls if you buy them gender neutral enough. You can also shop around back to school time for school supplies like crayons, markers, etc. You can make gift baskets with these and they are also great stocking stuffer, Easter basket fillers and so on.
Look at the clearance section of outlet stores such as TJ Maxx and Ross Dress for Less. The prices there are already low for high quality department store goods at these stores, but the clearance section can offer amazing sales where you save 75-90 percent off the retail value. This is a great place to find candles, beauty products, dish sets and cook wear.
Don’t forget to check out thrift stores. You can often find brand new in the package gifts there. Many people give their unwanted gifts they received to thrift stores. These are unused and unopened items such as small appliances, beauty sets, home décor and cooking sets. Just because they were not given to the right person to begin with doesn’t mean you don’t know someone who would love it!
Do you have any tips for getting a gift closet started? If so, feel free to share!
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