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Toy Sale Madness

It comes but once a year. 

The BIG one.

well the BIG one times four.

Toy Sales.... Big W, Kmart, Target, Myer.

They release their catalogues online as a sneak preview, deliver them to your letterboxes weeks before and then cram every bloody last nook & cranny of every store with toys...random toys, new toys, sparkly, shiny toys (and personally I think some that are left over from last year too)!!

In my opinion this is the PERFECT time to put on a layby, a large one, and pay it off for the next 6 months. They all offer NO DEPOSIT!! and store it until CHRISTMAS EVE!!

Now our little mr 18 months celebrates his birthday in January. Just a week and a half after Christmas. In theory that could put ALOT of strain on the wallet. But by shopping around the four major department stores, collecting the catalogues and then racing out like a crazed imbecile on the opening day.... it doesn't :)

This is our second year of doing this, last year it worked, and this year it will work too. We just pick up whatever we think he will like, dump it in the trolley, make sure it's on sale at the layby counter and then slowly pay it off over the 6 months. If, when I pay it off I no longer want the item - I return it! Easy.

So now the confession...this year I wasn't as organised as I'd wanted to be. Kmart & Big W got their catalogues out EARLY! and they were fantastic sales...in my head over the past two years these sales have always overlapped Target - by a few days at least... so I didn't act... I just waited for Target...and lo & behold missed the bloody sales at Kmart & Big W!!! fool!!!

Tonight we 'did' Target & Myer.. Myer finishes Sunday, and their sale is good - check it out if you haven't already, bargain of the Myer sale is the VTech laptop for half price -  just $39 The Myer toy section was a mess and we were overrun with teenagers acting up as there was no staff member..but I just told them to shift a couple of metres down so I could look at Buzz Lightyear... they did :)

Target we thought was a little disappointing in comparison to last year but are unsure if it's the age group we were buying for this year or their sale! In any case we picked up the stuff we wanted to and some extras that we wouldn't have been able to afford had we left the shopping until the last minute...and bargain for the Target sale (for us!) is the Cars pop up play tent... so much fun for fifteen bucks!!** Can't wait to put all the Christmas gifts in that for Christmas morning!!

So that is pretty much us done for the bulk of it. There are a couple of 'little' items that we are going to keep an eye out for and add to the grandparents shopping list, as you do, but aside from that no stress! I even have my Christmas wrapping paper ready - buy it up big in the sales at the end of every year :)

HAPPY SHOPPING!!

**couldn't find a link for the Target site with the tent...but if it's $19.95 on Deals Direct WELL $15 at Target is freeaakin awesome!

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