Last Monday saw Boots customers scramble to the aisles after the retailer announced their much-loved and hotly anticipated 70 per cent off post-Christmas sale. But the savvier shoppers among us are in on a little known secret - the much more elusive and lucrative 90 per cent off sale.
I worked for Boots for four years, and typically would see most Christmas stock reduced by 50 per cent on Boxing Day, followed by 70 per cent towards the end of January, and 90 per cent off around Easter time to make way for summer stock.
But this year, the 70 per cent off sale launched on March 6, and just seven days later, reductions were increased, with customers paying a tenth of the price they’d have paid only three months earlier.
READ MORE: Aldi restricts sales of latest kitchen Specialbuy that’s £100 cheaper than Ninja
Armed with this insider retail knowledge, I rarely buy anything in the half price or 70 per cent off sales, unless there is something I think will sell out, or I desperately want. Instead, I wait for the big reductions, and pick up dozens of gifts - some of which literally cost pennies.
This year, I picked up no fewer than 11 gifts with a total value of £155.50 - and spent less than £20 on the lot. It’s a pretty smug feeling, I won’t lie.
With Mother’s Day just days away, spring birthdays coming up, and Father’s Day mere months away, I was able to save bags of cash on ‘stocking filler’ gifts to be that ‘bit of something’ you can so often end up spending as much as the main gift on.
Among my bargain buys was a pink ceramic cake stand from Bake Off winner John Whaite, which comes with its own set of preserves, too. Originally £25, this was slashed to just £2.50 and makes the perfect Mother’s Day gift to pair with an afternoon tea hamper.
It’s my friend’s birthday in a couple of days, too, so I was able to get him three gifts for under a fiver, which would have usually cost £43. An avid cyclist and vegan foodie, I picked up a plant-based cookbook for £1.40 - which was £14 - as well as a Bosh make your own vegan cheese kit, alongside a bike puncture repair kit that was £15, down to £1.50.
I must admit that I did have to visit two different Boots stores for this haul. Each store has different stock, so to get the best offers, you may want to scout about. One of them was really rather disappointing, with nothing much other than bath bombs of varying festive themes, but the second store was a much bigger success.
I continued to scour the shelves for gifts. I always think it’s worth having an idea of what events are coming up, and when you add an item to your basket, consider who it will be for ahead of taking it to the checkout - or you could wind up stuck with it.
At the end of March, it’s my sister-in-law’s birthday, so to go with her gift I picked up two black ribbed glass tealight holders for 80p each, as well as a corkscrew and bottle opener kit for her home bar, priced at £1.40. These are both gifts I would have bought full price for her as I know she’ll love them - she certainly doesn’t need to know I only £3 for the lot!
It’s Father’s Day after that, and this L’Oreal Men Expert kit was tucked away on a shelf all on it’s own, reduced from £17 to £1.70, and I already know that my dad is a big fan of these products, to it was the perfect opportunity to snag some cheaper than you’ll find anywhere else.
In the photos you may also have spotted a festive cross-stitch as a dachshund dressed as Santa. One of my friends has a sausage dog, so I’m going to pop this £1 purchase up for Christmas - I have a dedicated box for all of my seasonal gifting, which I keep track of with a spreadsheet so that I don’t overspend throughout the year.
Finally, I picked up a couple of treats for myself, too - these Cat and Jo gifts, including a double sided print, and a luxury eye mask.
The mask cost £1.25 while the print cost £1.80. Even if you’re not so keen on the actual design, these frames are uber trendy and you could always add your own photo inside to hang in your home instead.
Meanwhile, the eye mask will come in handy as the nights begin to get a little lighter too.
Whether you are looking for a gift for Mother’s Day, starting your Christmas shopping extra early or just a treat for yourself, you can make some unbelievable savings this March.
The 90 per cent off sale is only available in store, with gifts reduced to 80 per cent online today. You can shop the online offers at Boots here.
READ NEXT:
Woman, 77, ‘delighted’ after ‘amazing’ anti-aging product transformed her wrinkles
I’ve been testing energy-saving gadgets for a year and there are 4 I use every day
Boots shoppers rushing to stock up on £10 ‘hero balm’ that’s ‘too good to miss’
I tried the £6 blush everyone says is a Charlotte Tilbury dupe and it’s SO glowy
Woman mistaken for being 45 after £10 Boots eye cream made her look '20 years younger'
