After Christmas Sales

Sales at the stores on the day after Christmas can often rival Black Friday sales. The folks at Dealnews expect that many retailers will offer limited special discounts on December 26th for those who hits the stores before 12 noon.

If you happen to have gift returns you need to make, these sales will give you a great opportunity to take care of those returns and to find other items you might want instead—and heavily marked down. When you're at the store, consider stocking up on these 5 items, which are likely on the cheap or at least marked down for after Christmas sales:

1. Champagne. Retailers are looking to move lots of magnums of champagne in this week between Christmas and New Year's. Though you might expect champagne to be more expensive at this time of the year, you're actually more likely to find it marked down or at a special price you won't find at any other time of the year.
2. Gift cards. I expect that many of the restaurants and retailers that offered deals on gift cards before the holidays will continue to offer those deals after Christmas. The deals to which I'm referring include getting a free gift card for a certain amount when you purchase $50 or $100 in gift cards.
3. Pantry staples. The week leading up to December 31st is a great time to cash in all of those coupons you may have been gathering this fall but didn't have the chance to use. If you can couple the coupon with a sale, then you've done your own version of extreme couponing. I know that in my coupon wallet, many of my holiday-related coupons expired on Christmas Day, but many other for popular holiday foods expire on December 31, 2011.
4. Holiday cards and decorations. Didn't get your holiday cards out on time? If you were "lucky" enough not to have even bought them yet, you can expect to find boxes of holiday cards marked down starting on December 26th. So while you may be a little late sending your holiday greetings, at least you will have been able to stock up on those greetings at a discount.
5. Winter clothes. Even though winter officially started only a few days ago, in the world of retail, it's almost spring. Expect to see winter clothing marked down with the Christmas wreaths and Chanukah menorahs. If you were lucky enough to snag the Old Navy Groupon that was being offered last week—or if you got gift cards to clothing stores as a holiday gift—you'll be able to save even more when you stock up on winter clothing.