Pink Ritas and Lip Gloss

I read on one of my message boards the other day about a sale on toys and how the poster was starting to fill up their “gift closet”. Apparently, she shop’s sales throughout the year to stock up on Christmas/Birthday/Random gifts for members of her family. I thought this was an excellent idea. Normally I try and start picking up things around July or August for gifts because most of my friends and family’s birthdays are after July 1st. I can usually keep the sticker shock of gift shopping down if I do a little each month up until December instead of all of it in December.

The good thing for me is that my family doesn’t really change sizes or tastes so a black polo I buy now will be the same black polo I could buy in December so I think I’ll keep my eyes peeled on retail sales especially if retail earnings reports continue to come in below expectations. Mike’s nieces are a little bit trickier as they are 6, 10, and 16 so their tastes do change from season to season and month to month. So I think I’ll stick with watching sales for classic toys like board games and Barbie dolls since those will always be popular and then supplement these gifts with a trendy item they decide on in December.

Anyone else shop year round? I’m just wondering if this is a popular concept or if waiting till the end is how most people do it.