Sales in advance!

[Rachelle]

I have made myself a promise to only ever buy items of clothing, toys, etc that are either in a sale or are second-hand. Hard to stick to but you soon start to realise just how much the mark up is on clothing, etc when you see what price they can be lowered to in a sale. I now have plastic boxes marked with labels of ages and every time I am in a sale I will buy something even if it is for two years time for the children. The only problem can be storage!!!

[TracyG]

This is an excellent tip, Rachelle. My sister buys all her children's clothes in the sales. By buying their winter clothes in the summer sales and their summer clothes in the winter sales she saves a small fortune.

She buys Christmas presents and decorations in the January sales, and stocks up on birthday presents from markets and car boot sales throughout the year.