The After Holiday Clearance Sales
I Admit, It's Mostly for the... CANDY! CANDY! CANDY!
Its amazing what you can pick up after any holiday in the clearance sections of your nearest store.
They expect huge volumes of buyers and granted they are there and buying. But some stores never get spot on while others are close. To be honest I prefer the ones that are off and have over stocked.
You can go in at midnight and walk out with twice as much as you would have gotten at 11:59 PM. And if you wait a few more days some stores will do a further mark down to 75%. Granted there will not be as much to choose from but for my fellow sugar junkies its wort it.
With that said please pull out your nearest set of sweets and enjoy the reading.
A Valentines Day Surprise.
Granted with timing issues this did not take place on our anniversary like the plans were set up to be. But it still blew her away.The anniversary is in August. This I think was in November. (You can check the anniversary out using the link below. Shameless plug I admit but always glad to boast about our anniversary.)
Anyway I had loaded up on candy at the 75% off sale. We are talking boxes not just one or two items. I hooked up with my parents as we would need someone to watch the kids over night. And it also helped that they had the local phone book to get me some numbers for the local hotels. I made the one night reservation and confirmed that the parents were available.
On the day before I said to the wife and kids pack a bag we are going to the grandparents tomorrow. There was a look of surprise and happiness in the kids eyes. The next morning wake up and road trip. To this day I am still amazed that the wife did not see all the chocolate in the van. When we got to my parents house the car was unpacked and I told the wife I had some things to do and I would be back later.
It took me about two hours to get the room set up with all the chocolate. It was everywhere in the room. On the bed. On the walls. On the tables. Even in the bathroom. And yes I stopped at the from desk and gave some to them. As a last gesture of good will I placed the TV remote on her side of the bed. All this took about an hour and a half.
Going back to my parents house I said to the wife grab your stuff and come with me. There was a look of confusion in her eyes. Trust me I said. So she did. When we walked into the room her eyes lit up with the chocolate and then with the remote on her side of the bed.
I am still surprised with all the chocolate she ate that she got any sleep that night.
I warned you about this anniversary link. Now here it is.
- How I Celebrated 20 Years With My Wife
When you are trying to surprise someone for your anniversary sometimes you can plan ahead. Other times the ideas just come to you. These are the ideas I used for out 20 year anniversary.
Scheming
Have you ever planned something like this and had to wait because of other things getting in the way?
Transformer Costume
Our youngest son is big time into the Transformers. His back pack has them. Most of his toys are Transformers. Right now he is watching the Transformers cartoons on the internet.
One year in the clearance section of Wal-Mart we found a Bumble Bee costume for 75% off. This brought the $20 dollar sale down to just $5.00. He has had this costume now for about three years and still plays with it.
The Daughter's Christmas Mugs
Yes this is another Wal-Mart purchase. And again at the 75% off price. There were two snowmen mugs with cocoa that the daughter had her eyes on. But again at the $20 dollar mark she said that she could wait. Even when they were at the 50% off she said she would wait. At the 75% of spot she said OK now we can get them. So dad (me) picked it up, went to check out and wiped out the wallet. The beverage part dissipated but the mugs are still used. Trust me I tend to be the one doing the dishes.
When I showed my daughter the pictures of the mugs she said that there were a couple of others that she's interested in.
Why am I not surprised?
Are you like my daughter and I and can wait for the after holiday sales?
And the survey says