Christmas is over. We’ve given all the gifts. We’ve unwrapped all of our gifts. Gift season is over for a while, or is it? No way! The clearance sales are beginning and there are great deals to be found almost everywhere. Now is the perfect time to buy gifts for those upcoming birthdays, holidays, weddings, baby showers and other events. I like giving really nice gifts, I love seeing someone wowed over I gift I gave or a present they received. Their joy just makes me so happy. So for me, this can get really expensive if I am not careful. This time of year with the clearance sales and huge markdowns is perfect for a crazy gift giver like me! It helps me avoid breaking the bank while giving all of these great gifts because I restock my gift closet.

A lot of people have useable food storage or a stockpile. They pay a great price now and use it later when it would be more expensive to buy it. I apply this same principle to gifts. I find great deals on awesome gift items now that I will use later as great gifts. It is what allows me to give crazy good gifts at discount store prices. It is easy to do and can help you save lots of money. After Christmas sales are a great place to start if you haven’t done this before. A few tips can make this an easy thing to do.

Decide where you are keeping your gift closet and prepare a place.
A gift closet doesn’t have to actually be in a closet, any designated place works. Just make sure you pick a good place and use it. It is what will make your gift closet work well for you or drive you crazy. Whenever you purchase an item for the gift closet put it right where it goes. Hiding things all over the house leads to lost gifts and gifts being seen by the kids and spouse ahead of time. I have some large plastic totes on a shelf in my garage. The gift items go in the totes the same day I buy them.

Keep an inventory.
I’ll admit I don’t always do this. I will also tell you that it is 100x easier when I actually do keep a quick list of the items in my gift closet. You avoid overbuying and know what you can give before you even start looking through the items in your gift closet.

Know your gift recipient base.
Think about who you give gifts to and the situations in which you’ll be giving them. Think about relatives’ ages and likes. Think about the ages of friends and potential birthday parties. Knowing who you will be giving future gifts to will help you grab those bargains to stock your gift closet and use as great gifts later.

Know where and how to shop.
Have a favorite item to gift? Do you know when it goes on sale? Do you know where the sale and clearance departments are at your favorite stores? When you are out shopping, take a look at the clearance and sale items. Swing by the toy department and watch for clearance bargains. Check those Christmas clearance sales, right now is a great time to grab gift items.

Don’t forget to shop online for your gifts. There are always great deals on Pinching Your Pennies that would perfect gift closet items.

When you have a really good grasp on building up your gift closet you’ll be great at spotting items for gifting events that are months away. This is why it is important to know your recipient base like I mentioned above. It is easy once you start.

Know your budget.
Don’t spend too much trying to build a gift closet quickly. Overspending and breaking your budget, especially now after Christmas, will defeat the purpose of building up a gift closet.

Include giftwrap and cards.
Pretty simple tip but it can save you big. Pick up some non-seasonal wrapping paper, gift bags and cards when you see them on these great after Christmas sales. Keep it all together with the gift closet or in another easy to find place.

Have fun and enjoy giving the gifts.
That’s the whole point of creating a gift closet. Enjoy giving your gifts and have fun buying them.