After Halloween clearance. . . more than just candy

I went to Target yesterday to scope out possible clearance deals and found there was TONS of Halloween stock left in the store. The candy was marked down only 30% and the rest of the Halloween stuff was 50% off! Last year I scored big on after clearance deals at Target and I wanted to give you some tips so you could too!

I’m GUESSING clearance will be marked down to 75% on tomorrow, November 4. This is a guess – I really have no idea, but it was four days after Halloween last year. Please don’t be mad at me if you go and it’s not 75% off – because I’m just GUESSING. You can call ahead and check if you really want to make sure.

Here are my tips for shopping after-clearance:

• The most important tip – look for things you can re-purpose or use year-round. For example, my store had some adorable black girls tights (with and without glitter) that you could wear year-round. Or things like Ziploc bags, Kleenex and Saran wrap still work great even if they are decorated with Halloween stuff. In fact, we JUST used up the rest of our Halloween Ziploc bags that I bought after clearance last year.
  
  Think about themes throughout the year:
  Red items = Christmas, Valentine’s day
  Green items = Christmas, St. Patrick’s, Oregon Ducks games
  Purple items = Mardi Gras, Valentine’s Day, Husky games
  you get the idea. . .
• Think baking – If you see any chocolate candies that might be ideal for holiday baking – snag them up! If you like to decorate gingerbread houses, be thinking about the kinds of candies that would work for those.
• Dress-up trunk for Christmas  – Do your kids like to dress up? If so, think about buying a bunch of costumes and putting together a “dress up” trunk. This would make an awesome Christmas present!

Here are some photos of my local Target – you can see there is TONS of stuff. These photos were taken yesterday morning (Nov. 2), so who knows what it looks like today or how it will look tomorrow. (Please forgive the blurriness, I was holding a baby, pushing a cart and taking these with my cell phone.)

Costumes are 50% off – think about dress-up for year-round

Colored lights – depending on how you plan to decorate for Christmas, these might work for that.

Oreos, Oreos, Oreos – oh my! Lots of Halloween-themed foods, which by the way, taste the same as non-Halloween-themed foods. So if you aren’t picky about an orange center in your Oreos or Boo Berry cereal – than these might work for you. Or. . I think there are a lot of dessert recipes out there that call for the Oreo cookie crumbs – so you could get these for holiday baking.

Think baking, gingerbread houses and/or stockings!

I am not a fan of skulls (sorry!) but these candles are Christmas colors! Take off the skulls and you’ve got yourself some pretty candles for the Christmas table. . . think creatively!

Lots of black leggings, that will be $1 when they reach 75% off. You can wear these year round!

Leave a comment if you are finding your Target stores are 75% off. Also, tell  me how you re-purpose items to be frugal.