Getting Ready for the Halloween Clearance at Target. Part 1...Steps to take now

So, now is the time for you to start preparing for the Halloween clearance at Target.   I keep on writing about the Target clearance sale, but not telling you much about it.  There are a lot of fabulous sites out there that give you all you could possibly want to know about Target sales, 365 days a year (for example, AllthingsTarget, TotallyTarget--these are very, very thorough).   In case you are new to this (as I was a few years ago), this can seem very confusing, and the ladies on those sites use all sorts of special codes, so this will just try to be as basic as possible.

How great does this look?

I love Target, but I TRY to keep the Target craziness to just the after holiday sales,  When I say holiday, I don't mean just Christmas--after the major holidays (Valentine's Day, Easter, Halloween, and Christmas), Target will discount their holiday-themed items starting at 50%, then 70%, and then, after 6-10 days, up to 90% off the original price.   They also discount summer items in mid-July, and Back to School items.   But this will be mostly about the holiday-themed clearance sales, because those are the ones I usually get the most at.

First, try to remember that nothing is a good deal if you don't need it, it can't be donated,  or you don't know someone who can use it.   Saying that, I think that many items can be donated, or given to friends who will use an item you might not use.  I will buy many baby clothing items for .50-1.00 each--I figure that the babies/mom in the home for single moms I donate to won't care if the clothing  they are wearing has a holiday theme to it if it new and still has a tag on it--and for all I know, they hold onto those items to give to the babies near that holiday.   I try (not great at it), to not feed my family processed/packaged items, but sometimes when something has been reduced to .10 a box, I will consider buying something to donate (my friend Missy will not do that, because she is against junk food, but I think it is wasteful to have Target throw out un-purchased items of food....it kind of depends on what it is).

 If you can get something super cheap, or free, please consider whether it is something that can be donated.   I buy a lot at these sales, and I donate A LOT of it (cups/napkins/tissues--all go to church donation bins, to my daughter's old preschool, etc).  Last year I bought 30 double boxes of Kleenex for less than .03 each after coupons.   I gave away at least half of them to church/friends.  Honestly, I somewhat selfishly wish I had kept more--a family of 7 goes through a lot of Kleenex!    I also will buy super cheap food items to give to  food drives or friends (one year I got about 40 boxes of Kraft Halloween pumpkin-shaped Macaroni & Cheese for .13 each,  and I donated about 35 of them to a variety of Thanksgiving families/food pantries/food drives).

At this point, still early in October, you should be going to Target just for recognizance missions.  In other words, see what is there.  People always ask me how I get such good deals.  Largely, it is because I know what is part of any particular holiday sale, so that when it goes on sale, I pick it up.

This is my favorite Target in Cedarbrook--the selection is always amazing, and the people who work there are really nice!

   

 I was surprised by how few costumes there seem to be at Target this year--in past years, there were 4 aisles of costumes, and even when it went to 90% off, you would have 2 full aisles.  I think they must have caught on, because there was only this aisle, and one for the kids.

Target typically puts stickers on all its clearance items, but it does not do that for holiday clearance sales.   So, if you see something that is part of the Halloween section now (look for packaging, Halloween-themed prints), you can assume it will be part of the whole holiday clearance.

It is almost too much to write about...you kind of have to learn by trial and error, but some things you might want to do at this point.    The day after the holiday (so, for Halloween, on November 1st),  the non-food items will be 50% off (this is what they have done before.  Target may change its policy, but this is what has always been done for years, so I will assume that this will be the case).     This includes all the Halloween-themed napkins, paper towels, ziploc bags, etc.   This is the day to buy any of these items, because these usually do not last until 70% off,   and it is a miracle if you can find it at 90%.   Let's make it clear--I don't understand the people who buy 50 rolls of paper towels at 1.50 each, but I will buy 10 rolls, and put one in each bathroom under the sink to use for cleaning (not for people use unless it is in season), a few to use in the garage,  and then 3-5 under my kitchen sink to replenish when I run out.   To make it a better deal, however, you might want to start getting/gathering coupons to use with these items.   For example, I always try to make sure that I have some Bounty coupons to use with my 50% off Bounty napkins/paper towels.    One year, I had coupons for $1 off 2 rolls, so for each roll I bought for 1.50, I only paid 1.00 each after coupons.   This is great, because usually these sell for 2.99 full price.

Lastly, start looking for items that you can use NOT for Halloween--like the pumpkins through Halloween, the purple lights I donated to my daughter's school (colors are purple and gold), etc.   Lots of these items can be used year round--these are the best things to get...not the bags and bags of candy corn!