SALE SALE SALE

It's the word we all like to see, especially for the brands we love, but definitely for items we were probably going to buy anyway. The only problem is knowing when those sales are coming, so we can save our pennies and take full advantage of the offers. Putting together a list of when a few of my favourite shops have their sales running, I sifted through the internet and social media sites, so we can all shop at a discount and happily save some money...

Tracking the sales isn't exact, it can fluctuate slightly year on year. This list is based on last years sales periods to give you the best idea when they are coming up. It can feel like some shops have sales all the time, so those shops who don't we loose track of. Hopefully this will put an end to that.

TIPS

If you aren't absolutely set on buying the item in question, it may be worth while waiting a little longer to see if there is further reductions later in the sale, just bare in mind that this may lead to you missing out all together. This is true in the Emma Bridgewater sale; there are many items which cost less the longer the sale runs and you can save yourself a fortune if you are willing to risk them selling out.

Every sale is different and certainly worth watching how they are managed. The Joules sales can start off with some items reduced and later add more. I have been caught out by this. I checked the sale, but the item in question wasn't in it. I had a discount code that had come through the door on a mailer card, so decided to use that instead to buy it. The next thing I see on facebook, is the item I had just ordered had been reduced. It was quite irritating, as it hadn't even been delivered and there was a 25% difference in the price I paid. I gave them a call and they kindly reduced it to the sale price for me and refunded the difference, which was really good of them. After increasing the amount of items in the sale, they then reduce the price further, this is certainly the case over the Christmas and January sale.

Sometimes the adage 'If you don't ask you won't get.' is true, when dealing with shops, services and banks, you have nothing to loose by asking nicely, they can only say no, which puts you in the same position as you were before you called.

You will probably notice on the table that Joules has a sale of some sort every month, therefore it's important to note the subtle differences in wording. Some months it states a percentage off everything, other months it doesn't, which means the discount will only be on selected items. As I said earlier,they do add more to the sales later, so keep a watch out.

Some shops like Jack Wills or again Joules (seriously we'd be foolish to pay full price in Joules) occasionally offer spend incentives to look out for (spending a certain amount to get money off). I generally ignore these offers unless I was going to buy the things anyway, as it is an incentive to spend more when perhaps you wouldn't, but if you are buying things that cost £100 receiving £20 off is never bad.

I hope this has helped to plan when is best to get shopping this year, saving lots of money along the way. If you want to get notifications of when exactly each store is having a sale, then following their facebook page is the easiest way. That way you avoid an inbox full of junk emails and leaflets through your door, (though these can sometimes give you early notice of sales and possibly additional discounts if you don't mind sorting through all the rest of the nonsense). If you follow them on facebook, you will have the sale post notification in your news feed the day it starts and the shops sometimes give out promo codes this way as well.

I really hope you found this helpful. Missing out on the chance to shop the sales can be frustrating, at least we now know if we do, there is another chance around the corner.

I haven't found a gin sale yet, my heartfelt search continues, but as soon as I do you will be the first to know!

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