The Storage Bin of Wonder

Last night I opened up my “storage bin of wonder.” This is the magic bin where I put all of the things that I pick up on clearance throughout the year. Whenever I see something that is too good of a deal to pass up, or when I see something that would make a PERFECT gift for someone, I buy it and store it away until Christmas time.

Some of my favorite things I find are candles, chap sticks or lip glosses, gift wrapping supplies, and jewelry. These things can be found on clearance randomly throughout the year. I also like to buy clearance items when the seasons change or right after holidays. After Christmas/Winter, you can get AMAZING deals on cute hats, scarves and mittens, which make excellent Christmas presents the following year. When summer is winding down, you can find excellent deals on outdoor candles and decorations, picnic wear, and gardening supplies. Since my mom’s birthday is in June, and she is an avid gardener, I stock up on these supplies when they are on sale. After each holiday, I like to pick up cute holiday hand towels. Putting together a package of “all seasons” gift towels can make a great present. Include an Easter, summer, Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas towel. This can easily be done for under $10 dollars and is a very thoughtful and original gift (in my mind anyways).

Some other ideas are:

-Christmas mugs, for making a “coffee lovers” or “tea lovers” basket
-Red “Christmas” candles can be used on Valentines Day.
-Christmas themed plates for giving plates of Christmas cookies the next year

I try to shy away from buying:

-Clothes. Styles change, people’s size change, some people are very particular about their wardrobe. Too risky.

Anyways, back to my “storage bin of wonder.” Since I have been trying SO hard to not spend wastefully, my magical bin is not as full as I would like. The highlights were two 5 x 7 picture frames on sale for $1.59 each, and a beautiful angora scarf with matching gloves on sale for $2.99 and $1.99 respectively. I also picked up numerous gift bags, a couple sticks of soft lips cherry chap stick, and some cute ice cream dishes.

The frames will go to my parents, with some carefully chosen pictures from the past year. Luckily, I picked a girl cousin for my cousin gift exchange, so the scarf set will go to her.

Not only does buying clearance items throughout the year save money on gift buying (by getting the best deal possible), it also helps to spread out the spending, so you are not hit so hard in December.

This year I will have to remember that sometimes spending a little more than expected here and there, when I run across a good deal, pays off in the end. Hopefully next year my “storage bin of wonder” will be a little more impressive.