Is Boxing Day Shopping Worth It?
My husband and I are hosting Christmas this year - 13 people (including 4 kids) in our tiny Toronto row house. By the 26th, I’m pretty sure we’ll be flat out exhausted. So the idea of getting out of bed to battle crowds for deals on Boxing Day makes me kind of nauseous. Still, there are two things I really need this year - a proper winter coat and boots that don’t leak or don’t have an insane high heel on them. If Santa doesn’t make good on my requests (and to be honest, the box my husband shuttled in the other day didn’t look big enough to contain either) it looks like I’ll be hunting for some deals.
- I’m going to do research up front - just going to the mall or downtown without a plan can mean I come back home without what I wanted or with a bag of stuff I don’t need but bought on impulse (bubble bath in a wine bottle anyone? Seriously I saw that in a store the other day!).
- I will be avoiding department stores and big box stores. All the stampedes and lineups that make it onto the news turn me off (and I don’t need a new TV or laptop).
- I signed up for the Reflagdeals.com Boxing Week email alerts - it’s promised to send me any sale information for Boxing Day from major retailers that I like.
- I’ll be looking for deals online. I am becoming a fan of online shopping this year. I actually ordered up a pile of my favourite book titles to send to a friend in the States recently - five books cost me under $50, with shipping. It would have been double that in the store (if they even had them in stock). Can’t wait to see what Boxing Day/Week deals I can find.
- I’ll be keeping it seasonal - the best deals are usually on items retailers want to clear out for spring - winter sweaters and (hopefully) some warm boots and a coat.
- I’ll probably pack light (a credit card and any essentials in my coat or jean's pocket). Who wants to be lugging a purse through the madness.
- Well, I might just stay home - seriously, if that perfect coat is out there for me, it can hang on for another week or so while I recover from the holidays.
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