You know the drill. The shops open at 10am on Boxing Day and at that moment you, and the rest of the hoard of bargain-hungry shoppers, rush through the doors of the department store you are waiting outside of and grab at anything that you can reach.
Now, although it sounds like the perfect work out after eating one too many mince pies, the reality is that you blow all the money that Santa brought you and you don’t have any left for the end of January when all of the new Spring/Summer lines are out.
After having made this mistake myself too many times, I have now realised that I must be wary of the January sales.
To be honest, what is the point of buying loads of out of season clothes when you could spend wisely and kit yourself out with the hottest fashions for the following months?
Furthermore, half of the time the purchases made in the sales aren’t even things I like, or will wear again and hence they turn out to be a total waste of money.
Therefore, I have created a stringent set of questions to help me to decide whether I should make a purchase at the sales; you might find yourself saving some pennies if you follow these too:
1. Will I wear it again?
Sounds oh-so obvious but how many times have the labels stayed on sales items before you cart it off to the charity shop?
2. Is it a fashion-buy or an investment piece?
Fashion buy – no! You won’t wear it come February and everybody will already have one anyway. If it’s an investment piece, such as a coat or jumper then grab it! You can wear it time again and you’ll feel all the more smug when you think about how cheap it was.
3. Can I try it on?
If you can’t, be wary. Will you keep it for the sake of it – even if it doesn’t look that good? Always return items if you know you won’t get your wear out of them, but be aware that many shops don’t start admitting returns until early January.
4. Does it fit?
“It will after I start my New Year diet” is not a good enough excuse. Take it back to reduce the guilt of Xmas-overeating!
5. Is it a real bargain?
If you have admired it for months, counting down the days until it is 50% cheaper then buy it. If you think, ‘oh, that’s quite nice’ then forget it.
Hopefully now you won’t be one of those panic buyers that we see every year on the news mobbing Selfridges.
Remember: bag yourself a real bargain or wait a few weeks and get something totally new.