by ThriftyFun.com
Buy Christmas Items
Right after Christmas is a great time to buy Christmas
decorations, wrapping paper and cards at clearance prices. Keep in mind that you
will need to both store and be able to find these items next year. So only buy
items you know you will use and put them in a clearly marked box. Candy and
chocolate is also on sale. If you use it for baking you can freeze it to use for
Valentine's Day or Easter baking.
Lots of Leftovers
If you have lots of leftovers you may want to freeze them rather
than try to consume them all before they go bad. This advice goes for breads,
cookies and other baked goods as well. So much of the food that we eat at
Christmas is pretty fattening, you can help your waistline by eating that food
over a larger period of time.
Returning Items
If you plan on returning an item that you received as a gift but
don't have a receipt you will want to do it within a week or so of Christmas.
Most stores are much more relaxed about returns immediately after Christmas.
Wrapping Paper Tips
There are many uses for wrapping paper, even paper that has been
removed from gifts. Used paper works great for padding when you are putting away
Christmas decorations. If paper was removed carefully from gifts it can be
folded and stored to wrap a gift next year. Leftover wrapping paper that doesn't
have Christmas themes can be set aside for wrapping birthday presents and other
gifts throughout the year.
Buying Big Ticket Items
Between Christmas and New Years is a good time to buy big ticket
items like cars. Salesmen and dealership owners have families too and will be
eager to recoup some of the expense of the holiday as well as create space for
more inventory. Having said that, do your research, compare prices, and DON'T
buy from the first car lot you go to. Be sure to shop around. When you start to
get serious, get price quotes with feature lists in writing. Regardless of what
time of year you buy a big ticket item, like a car, you need to do your
homework. Lastly, be sure to crunch the numbers and calculate the True Cost of
Ownership, taking into account finance charges, tax and other expenses.
Edmunds.com has a handy tool for doing this. <http://www.edmunds.com/apps/cto/CTOintroController>
Storing Christmas Lights
If you have the time and like tedious projects, a great way to
store Christmas lights is right back in the packaging they came in. A quicker
method is to reuse some of those cardboard paper tubes that are leftover from
wrapping paper rolls. Attach the lights to one of the paper tubes and then wrap
it around. Tape both ends to secure the lights and store in a large box with
padding.
Storing Holiday Decorations
Whenever I store something I always mark the contents on the
outside of the box with a large permanent markers. For Christmas decorations I
also tape a piece of wrapping paper to each box so I can clearly see which boxes
contain Christmas items the following year.
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