I stop all spending during the month of January. The constant barrage of ads in December makes January my favorite month to do this. I pay the household bills, but everything else goes on hold. I feed the family from the pantry and freezer which helps to do an annual cleaning out of both of those systems.
It feels good to "make" it through the entire month without buying anything! It also makes us grateful for the things we have and we all save tons of time too!
Do you realize that the regular prices of the nuts, cranberry jelly, or whatever you need for the big meal at Thanksgiving or Christmas always goes up about a month before the big event? I try to stock up just before that and then in December I don't have to pay the higher prices. January has enough snowstorms that I usually also do as "Van Mom" does and only get what I need to.
Bargains in the January sales are only bargains if you need then anyway. When I was younger I used to shop seasonal sales and impulse buy 'because it was so cheap' but now, unless its on the list(!) I tend to avoid them. This getting a jump on New Year frugality seems a good idea and since January is the start of my year of Super Frugal, (in order to pay off my mortgage), I may give this one a try. Thanks Van Mom
I live in a cold climate and we often get bombarded with snow/ice, etc. Once I get home from work, I don't want to have to go back out.
I attempt to stock up in the fall with groceries, laundry/cleaning products and health & beauty items, so I don't "HAVE TO" go out for anything other than milk, bread, eggs and fruit.
The big sales in January seem to be home organization and after Christmas sales to make way for the swim suits!
I envy the fact that you can make that work and wish you continued success!
January is when stores are desperate for sales, and prices are often quite low. I stock up quite a bit in January and hold back from almost all shopping in November and December, when prices are sky high. But, yes, no payments for a month (except rent/mortgage and the telephone) feels great.
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