Special January Sales you Should be Investing In

Every January we are innuendoed with multiple sales offers but the only special January sales you should be investing in for the money you have worked hard to save for are not those that will plunge you into more debt. Personally, I intend to spend my hard-earned money on things that will enrich my life and not cause me to despair for the rest of the year. Just because an item is on sale doesn’t mean you have to buy it especially if you won’t have much use for it throughout the year.

Like many people, the months leading up to Christmas we spend loads of money on presents and then come January we start seeing all these items on sale and are tempted to buy them. But, these sales if you think about it are always there throughout the years, it just that we are led to believe this is the lowest price ‘this item’ will ever be sold at that’s why we fall into the trap and spend the money. Months later, we see the same item at an even cheaper price and regret starts creeping in.

This is why I am insisting that the only special January sales you should be investing in are the ones I am covering in this post and nothing else.

The Special January Sales you should be Investing In

I don’t know what it is about the new month of the year that makes us so gullible, is it that we are still euphoric from our Christmas break or it is the January Blues? Whatever it is, we need to wake up and smell the coffee because not all sales are created equal and we need to realise that just because it’s on sale doesn’t mean you have to purchase it. However, if the item on sale is something you were going to buy regardless and have saved up for it then kudos to you, buy that bag.

People often get tricked into thinking, if I don’t buy it now, I probably won’t see it this cheap again. Wrong. There have been many occasions that retailers make an item limited even though there have got plenty of stock just to make the consumer think they will miss out so the panic buy. I have many times rushed to buy those lovely boots from my favourite boutique at ‘such a steal’ price only to see it a few months later even cheaper. Don’t fall into the trap of ‘it’s a sale, I need to buy it’.

The only special January sales you should be investing in are:

1. To Replace Your Appliances

If like me have appliances that need to be replaced and you have saved for them then why not take advantage of the sale? Often when it comes to appliances people like to wait until the end of year sales or the January sales and pick up that latest model of their favourite appliance. My advice to you is, no matter how tempting it is, often new models are not worth the buzz especially if the only difference is the size but everything works the same.

Often you will find that buying last year’s model is actually much more cost-effective than trying to buy the latest model which costs more because it’s new’. If the functionalities are not that different, then you are buying the items because it’s new not because it will change your life and worse the splurge. You need to be critical when making purchases, especially with appliances.

2. To Pay off your Debt

I know this might seem harsh but unless the credit card company or loan company that you owe money to is offering a discount on your repayments, you don’t need to be buying anything in the sales section. I recently spoke about how I was able to pay off my debt using the Snowball Method, now is the perfect time to start implementing that method and not get sucked into the sales being displayed everywhere you look.

Even when you have a debt to pay off, it’s still important to ‘enjoy yourself’ but not at the expense of increasing that debt or failing to make your contractual minimum payment because you wanted to pick up a couple of items from the sale aisle. It is important to prioritise paying off debt not incurring more as this leads to you staying in debt for longer. Unless you planned for the January sales, saved money to use for it then don’t spend anything.

3. To Save Money + Build your Emergency Fund

If there is anything the previous year has taught us its to be prepared for the worst because it can happen anytime. I have shared a few tips on the blog recently on how you can save money whether it’s through ‘no-spend weekends’ or cutting back on your energy bill. There are many ways one can save money on any income, its about priorities and being honest with yourself.

Another important item to think about is building an emergency fund because they are so important. Whilst having insurance is not an emergency fund per se, it can act as such for certain things but not everything and you need to have liquid assets you can tap into should the need arise. You don’t have to be a high earner to start building that emergency fund, you can start as little is £1 a day or week and slowly build it up.

4. Buy for next Christmas

If you read my recent post on ‘frugal lifestyle hacks’ then you will remember I talked about shopping out of season. This is not only for clothes but for other occasions like Christmas because of its the wrong season for it. In November you can buy a pack of 100 Christmas cards for £5.20 and during the January sale, these will be going for £2.05 or less. These are the only January sales you should be buying but again respect advice #1-3.

5. Buying Flights

I am a travel addict and will always recommend buying flights to somewhere if you can afford it and have adhered to advice #1-3. Although I often buy flights in December, there are times when I see amazing flight deals during the January sales and I always make a purchase for later in the year. This year I am looking more of booking for next year than for later this year as nothing is certain.

When it is ‘safer’ to travel be that in a few months time or a year, the flight prices I think will rise as demand increases and this is why I would book your flight for later in the year now and all goes well you can still travel or still get your money back if they cancel. I am excited to start booking flights again even if it’s for the far-flung future than for the next few months.

So, now that that’s out of the way, what are some of the special January sales you should be investing in but aside from that, what you are thinking of hitting during the sales? Do you have a budget for it? Ask yourself this, do you need it or do you just want it?