The whole month of January is sort of like a Clearance Utopia for me. After Christmas Clearance. Toy Clearance. Bedding Clearance. Sporting Good Clearance. And it just keeps coming. I don't always even buy anything. It's just the thrill of the hunt. It's about finding what I could buy. And I am an excellent bargain hunter. Or rather, I feel, these deals find me. And since the move, we did have a couple needs arise. Like Mister Man's golf clubs he left behind. And the bicycles that are still in the shed in Kansas. And I donated my entire toy stash to a charity in Kansas, as I bought those items for Kansas, so I needed to build up my supply again.
As for other fabulous clearance finds, well, since the move, I find myself not wanting a bunch of extra stuff. And that's not a terrible thing...
Mister Man kept claiming he really didn't need his golf clubs anymore, and that it was absolutely fine his old set was left in Kansas, but I had a feeling there was some truth lacking there. And when I told him I intended to buy some on clearance, he was incredibly enthused with this idea. The only issue was that none of the Targets close to us even carried men's clubs, which was disappointing, since in Kansas, I saw those sets every year on clearance while looking for items for charity raffles. My plan was permanently halted.
Then The Redhead had a photo appointment out at this Target that isn't as close to our house. It's closer than the Targets were in Kansas to our old house, but in comparison to the new house, it's so far away. We never get to it. We showed up early to our appointment, I glanced in the sporting goods section, knowing it was sporting goods clearance day, and there these were. Waiting for me. There was another set for $40. Next thing you know, Mister Man and I were texting, deciding which set to buy. Not willing to take any chances, I dragged them to our photo appointment and purchased them once we were finished ordering gorgeous portraits and cards for Valentine's Day.
Golf balls are expensive. $4.48 is a lot more affordable.
We left our bicycles in Kansas. It's a bit of a sore topic. They ended up not fitting in the Packrat moving container, and we thought our clever selves would just attach them to our car, but our old bike rack didn't work on our car. So we bought a new one that was universal, except for our cars. And now the bikes are still in Kansas, in our rental property's shed.
We came across this bike on clearance, two days after sporting goods clearance would have began, and it claimed to be $125. I had a feeling, I just had this strange suspicion that it was cheaper than that. So went the comical act of me taking random sporting good clearance items to the scanner. They were marked one price, but all of them kept ringing up 70% off. And so I was convinced this bicycle was cheaper too. I couldn't find any bar codes to take to the scanner. Finally, I forced Mister Man to embarrassingly roll it to the price scanner so we could awkwardly hold it up to the scanner. And when that didn't work, I finally ripped off a bar code off the bike and scanned it. That's how convinced I was. Because if I hadn't been, I never would have ripped off a potentially vital tag. And then there it was. That magic number on the pricing machine. $74.98 Next thing you know, I'm begging a Target guest services associate to hold the bike for us until Mister Man could drive back and pick it up, as we wouldn't all fit in the car. Fortunately, not much begging was necessary. And Mister Man finally has a bike again. To go with his clubs.
The Redhead was the most excited, as this meant they could ride their bikes together around the neighborhood. Sure, we could have bought the bike at $124.98, or one at full cost, but where's the fun in that?
Now we can flash back to early January when I had been scoping out Christmas clearance. I lucked out with these finds, as I bought them late that afternoon, after they'd been 90% off all day long. This store went 90% off a day before the rest of the stores did and if it hadn't been for a forum site, I wouldn't have known it had. So The Redhead and I rushed to the store and slowly took our time walking through all the aisles, finding the "hidden stuff," the items that aren't kept in the Christmas aisles. Almost all of the clothes were purchased for charity. I've been doing this for years, but I usually just went for adorable baby outfits and would donate them to a group that helped pregnant women in need. I still don't know all of the charities in this area, as I have so much to learn, but when I do find them, I will be well stocked. It doesn't make me awesome though, as I do write these items off at their original price, but I find the money I set aside for charitable contributions stretches using this method.
The selection was far different from what I was used to in the past. Christmas lights in California, at least in our area, barely made it to 50% off, most were sold out. In Kansas, I could always score those 70% off. The only things I really bought at 70% this year were two telescopes for $5.98 each and a couple timers for Christmas lights. Everything else was 90% off. That's when I went in for the kill.
Like those bracelets in the above photo, I bought a lot of great items for The Redhead's classroom prize box.
I also bought these sets for their prize box. Why not? While checking out though, the cashier kept freaking out. She kept moaning, "I bet you bought them all. I bet you bought all of the good stuff." I bought two. And yes, they were the only two. But I didn't clear any other shelves or racks. Unless there was only one (or two) left. She almost made me feel guilty.
Some cashiers enjoy my tips though. This cashier that checked me out when I bought all of those awesome hand soaps was very excited. I told her exactly where they were located (as they weren't with the Christmas items). She couldn't wait to go buy some during her break. For $0.69, I couldn't blame her.
I also stocked up on cat toys for a local group we like to contribute to. (The day prior, I bought cat toys for our own furry feline, but I had forgotten about the possibility of donations.) Since we adopted Alexandra through them, we like to make sure we show our gratitude. At Christmastime, The Redhead bought them over 40 toys and they let her pass a bunch of them out to the cats. Eventually, we'll drop these toys off as well. 0.99 cents a package is much better than $9.99. And what is a better reason for clearance than use it to help others? I've lived by that mantra forever. I hope to spend the rest of my living continuing to do so.
There were so many good things for the classroom prize box! I found mostly girly items, but hey, it's the thought that counts.
The cat enjoyed her clearance gifts so much that she ruined her ball of yarn within hours.
I went back a few days later, on a Tuesday, and went searching for "hidden items" I'd read on a forum that people had found. 0.39 cent coloring books. 0.49 cent spy gear. 0.19 cent hair ties. 0.30 cent paper straws. I spent very little, but sent a lot more items to the classroom. I could have bought so much more, but I chose not to.
Now when toy clearance rolled around, I went in with high hopes, but those were all dashed. In the past, I've had car fulls of fabulous toys for donation, but this time, this is what I bought. It's not terrible, but what I like to do is pad my stash and when we adopt families for the holiday, use a lot of what I've bought to help give these kids a terrific Christmas. Sure, I'll buy other items too, even at full cost, but it helps the dollars stretch. Every little bit helps.
My clearance shopping isn't reserved only for Target though. Gymboree also had some awesome deals. This is a huge box. Some of it was for The Redhead, but not all.
The cat isn't nearly as interested in my bargains.
Nor is The Redhead.
Even if they do benefit.
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