Most of you will think I have lost my mind as we just had Christmas a couple of days ago and I am preparing myself for Christmas again. Well, Christmas is celebrated on the 25th of December, by Western Christianity, part of the Eastern churches, most Oriental Orthodox and part of the Eastern Orthodox churches , but it's also celebrated on the 6th of January by the Armenian Apostolic Church and the Armenian Evangelical Church . My Christmas is on the 25th of December, so I had mine already.
Yet, yesterday I started the preparations for the next one 😂 No, I have not lost my mind, this is a well planned strategy with a lot of benefits, if you know how to ride it. For me, it is professional harm, that I always want to make the best deals.
When I was a kid, Christmas in my country meant decorating the Christmas tree on the 24th, for Christmas Eve. This tradition has not changed in my family since then. We still decorate the tree on the 24th and celebrate Christmas on Christmas Eve. Shops were not decorated much earlier either when I was a kid, as those were other times. However, things have changed a lot over the years and decorating shops and selling Christmas decorations starts in November now.
I don't have any objections, it is a good thing actually as people need time to do the shopping and manage their budgets as well. Some have adopted the western tradition and are putting up the Christmas tree at the beginning of December, which is totally fine. You can do that if you're using and artificial tree, but a real one won't last for a month though.
Every year I'm looking at the Christmas decorations at the shops and selecting a few each time, to enrich my collection, but I never go crazy with it as these are not exactly cheap. This year was a bit shocking to see prices soaring, so I bought none before Christmas. I thought what I have already will be enough. Then things took a turn and got a bigger tree than usual and my decoration collection seemed insufficient. Good thing I know how to cheat. Every room has four corners, so I put the tree in the corner and decorated only the front 😂 Yeah, shame on me.
There was nothing I could do on Christmas Eve, other than apply the afore mentioned trick, but I had a plan forming in my head already. I knew there will be heavy sales after Christmas as sellers prefer to sell at a discount, rather then block a huge amount of money for 10 - 11 months and that was my chance.
So yesterday I went to the shopping mall to have a look and make the most of the holiday sale offers. The space dedicated to Christmas decorations was already filled with other products and the leftover Christmas decorations were gathered in a small corner. When I looked at the prices, my jaw dropped. You could buy most of the ornaments at 70 - 80% discount.
Obviously this is a double edged sword. As I mentioned, sellers don't want to lock their money for 10 - 11 months in Christmas ornaments and if you buy now, you're doing the same, locking your money till next Christmas, as buying now means keeping the ornaments in the box for 12 months. However, if you look at the costs, it totally worth it.
What you see on the photo above costed me 31.5RON, which is roughly 6.3euro. It was really a bargain. The box of 49 orbs was 2euro. These are not big, are actually the smallest actually, but loved the colors so much.
With the high inflation we have this year, making good choices when it comes to finances has become a must. I'm not one to waste money foolishly, just because I can afford it, never have been and from now on it is even more important to make smart choices. For me, finding the right price and buying the best offer is like a puzzle game.
Often I see how tricky shopping is if you're not familiar with the traps waiting for you in the shops and if you're not good at math. I guess smart shopping gets a new meaning from now on and instead of referring to digital shopping trolley and self cashier, it will also mean getting the best deals, buy more with less. Is it possible? Will see. We have to at least try.
If you're a newbie, you may want to check out these guides:
