This weekend I managed to save a whopping £99 at Boots, picking up birthday and Christmas gifts for friends and family throughout the year. I have a box in my office where I save all the bits I’ve picked up, and dish them out for occasions, ranging from big gifts I’ve spotted on offer, to little stocking fillers and add-ons.
It helps a lot with spreading the cost of things like Christmas, and when you have multiple birthdays in the same month. Boots shoppers can usually find some great 50 per cent off deals immediately after Christmas. Then at the end of January, prices are typically slashed on remaining items to 70 per cent off.
READ MORE: Aldi primer ‘identical to Smashbox’ that could save you more than £20
This year, that wasn’t the case though, as the health and beauty retailer waited it out, launching the 70 per cent off sale in stores on March 14. However, last week, some shoppers were finding that their bargain buys were scanning through even cheaper, at 90 per cent off.
It’s unusual for Boots to only have their 70 per cent off deal run for one week before making further reductions, but you can bet I raced to my nearest, biggest store to see what stock they had left.
When I arrived, the shelves were looking pretty bare, with suncream and holiday items creeping in from the right. Some of the remaining gifts included Tobasco mugs for 85p, crafting sets, prints and coasters, as well as a few bits and bobs like lip balms and bath bombs.
I picked up two Eleanor Bowmer prints for 85p each, rather than £8.50, as I adore her work and think they’ll look great in my office. I also added an embroidery kit to my basket, reduced from £20 to £2, as well as two sets of Alice Scott ceramic coasters, which were down to £1.40 from £14.
I tried the £13 moisturiser Michelle Keegan uses and it transformed my dry skin
The best mascara in the UK revealed as we group test Mac, Maybelline, No7 and Glossier
So far, my total spend was £6.50 for products that would have cost me £65 just 14 weeks ago, so I was feeling pretty smug when I hit the checkouts, paid my bill and collected my 24 advantage card points.
On my way home, I stopped at another Boots branch just in case they still had some stock left. I was doubtful, with it being a pretty busy branch, but when I walked in on Friday afternoon, staff were adding the last few bits to a shelving unit by the door.
The reduced items were much the same as in the previous branch, so I had a little wander around at the makeup and went to leave. That’s when I spotted the jackpot - one solitary women’s Jack Wills gym bag being added to the shelf.
The bag is typically one of the Boots star gifts in the run up to Christmas, being reduced to £22.50 rather than £45. But in the 90 per cent off sale, it was less than £5.
The £4.50 barrel bag also came with two full sized body lotions and body washes, but was missing the body scrub, which was a shame, but with the amount of money I was saving, I didn’t mind much.
This brought my total spend to £11, but with a whopping saving of £99. The only issue I had was that one of the coasters was broken, but I was still left with three coasters that were perfectly usable, and could be added to gifts.
My mum received the Jack Wills gym bag for Mother’s Day - among other things - but loved the new, sturdy bag she could take to the gym with her, replacing an old battered school bag that I had for high school eight years ago.
I was so pleased with my bargains, and will definitely be making my way around other local stores to see what reduced stock they have in store too.
Of course, these aren’t the only deals Boots have on at the moment, with the retailer's £10 Tuesday offer returning tomorrow, which sees dozens of products reduced to a tenner.
They’ve also recently launched £7 steals, where seven No7 products are reduced to £7 every Thursday.
