Boxing Day Sales: How I bought over £200 worth of items for £6 cash
Before Christmas is but a distant memory I thought I would share my Boxing Day sales buys for 2017.
Of course, it is only a bargain if you need it in the first place, and in recent years I have become increasingly strict with myself in ensuring I don’t just buy stuff because it is cheap!
Having a small child makes this a bit more excusable as of course they always need clothing in the next size up. This is why I have started doing what my pre-parent self would find unthinkable and that is getting up early to go to the Boxing Day sales.
Let’s just get something straight to begin with though – I’m not one of those crazy people camping outside Next from 3am or something, and I certainly wouldn’t queue to get into a sale!
I tend to get there for around 7.30am, which as those of you with small children already know, is quite a lie in anyway. So a couple of hours to myself with no pushchair in an empty shopping centre isn’t quite as bad as it might sound to some people.
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Next
Next is usually my first port of call having being open since stupid o’ clock. In previous years I have had quite a haul at 7.30, even though the die hards will have been and gone with the best picks, in the past there has been a very decent selection of baby and women’s clothing and accessories.
This year I was more disappointed with the children’s selection. In hindsight I don’t know if it is because I am now looking for age 3-4 clothing to see my daughter through the coming year, whereas in previous years where the sizing can go up every 3 months as a baby.
Other reasons could be more availability of items in a variety of baby sizes, the early bird Boxing Day sales shoppers getting most of it, or less on offer from Next in the first place. (I have noticed the wording seems to have changed from “absolutely everything half price or less” to this year “absolutely all sale items half price or less” – which basically gives them licence to keep whatever they want out of the offers.
Anyway, I digress. I only managed to get 3 items for my daughter. It wasn’t that other items weren’t available in her size, but obviously there is no point getting items you have no need for just because they are on sale. It might sound obvious, but these are the rules I stick to:
- Is it worth the money even though it is reduced?
- Does she need it?
- Do I like it? – No point in buying something cheap if you don’t like it after all, even if it isn’t for you to wear!
- Pink cardigan- Was £13 now £6.50
- Red Cardigan – Was £10 now £5
- Rabbit top – Was 7.50 now £3.50
- Total spend: £15.00 (on gift vouchers saved from her birthday)
Total saved: £15.50
Luckily the women’s section fared better.
Even though I follow the same mantra of “Do I need it?” I allow myself a little more freedom as I very rarely buy myself clothes at any other time of the year any more.
I am also still regularly wearing the clothes bought in previous years’ sales so it is rare these days that I will buy something to just hide in the back of the wardrobe. (I used to be a serial offender for this however!)
- Slippers: was £14 now £7
- Blue-grey jumper: was £22 now £5
- Grey sweatshirt: was £30 now £12
- Sandals: Was £24 now £9
- Total spend: £33 (On gift cards received at Christmas)
Total save: £57 – (A bit more like it!)
Total cash spend at Next: £0
When is the Next sale actually held? Find all the annual Next sale dates in this post
Boots
Having saved up my Boots Advantage Card points and offers via the Advantage Card app for well over a year, I had £68 worth of points. My aim was to use this to buy a perfume set for the best price possible as well as any half price gift sets that I felt were worthwhile.
I can be a sucker for these but due to having more than enough makeup I was determined to stick to my guns.
- Marc Jacobs Daisy Dream EDT with shower gel & body lotion – Was £55 now £36.66
- Umberto Gianni Style Icon set – Was £12.50 now £6.25. This was well worth it as it included 2 full size bottles of products I already use which are around £5 each to buy separately.
- Umberto Gianni Over Indulger – Was £8.50 now £4.25 – Again this included a full size deep conditioner as well as a comb.
Total spend £47.23 (Redeemed in Advantage points)
Total saved £28.84
Total cash spend: £0
Want to save money BEFORE Christmas? Check out my Black Friday Guide here
Primark
I always like to check Primark for comfy stuff to wear round the house! I managed to get a sweatshirt and jogging pants that were both reduced from £8.00 to £3.00 each.
Total cash spend: £6.00
Total saved: £10.00
So, there you have it! How I got over £212 worth of items in the Boxing Day Sales 2017 for a £6 cash spend!
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