Courtney Omell | 

9 Things to Buy in December (And 3 You Should Skip)

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Whew! We just came out of one of the busiest sales seasons of the year. And although Black Friday is behind us, there are still things to buy in December to get some of the lowest prices of the year. This month we’ll see great grocery and food deals along with some pretty outstanding after-Christmas clearance sales.

Save up to 25% this month by buying your favorite beauty brands in holiday gift sets. Score 10% off Target gift cards and use them to get discounts on big-ticket buys like a new Xbox. And find out when you’ll be able to get 90% off Christmas goods at Hobby Lobby, Target, and Walmart. Here’s a list of things to buy in December, along with the prices you should aim to pay (and when to shop).

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what to buy in December calendar

1. BOGO Free Dry Skin Essentials

three bottles of gold bond lotion

After the mass Black Friday deals end, I start to notice big deals on winter beauty and self-care essentials. This includes lots and lots of moisturizer deals for dry skin. This BOGO free Gold Bond deal at Walgreens is hard to beat — with prices as low as $2.40 each.

Grab two Gold Bond Healing Hand Creams (the hand cream is my personal fave and works really well on cracked feet too), two Gold Bond Healing Hydrating Lotions, or two Gold Bond Age Renew Tight & Firm Lotions. Or mix and match — you'll get the lower-priced item for free.

2 Gold Bond Healing Hand Creams
In-Store or Online Deal at Walgreens
$4.79$9.5850% off
Pickup: Free on orders of $10+
Price Summary
$2.40 each
Exp in 11 hours
2 Gold Bond Healing Lotions
In-Store or Online Deal at Walgreens
$11.99$23.9850% off
Pickup: Free on orders of $10+
Price Summary
$6 each
Exp in 11 hours
2 Gold Bond Age Renew Lotion
In-Store or Online Deal at Walgreens
$13.99$27.9850% off
Pickup: Free on orders of $10+
Price Summary
$7 each
Exp in 11 hours

2. Christmas Clearance

If you’re going to shop anything in December, it should be Christmas clearance. One of the best ways to save during the most expensive time of the year is by shopping clearance prices in December for gifts, decor, and essentials you'll need in the coming year. 

Wrapping Supplies

You’ll get the best deals on wrapping paper in after-Christmas clearance sales. At Walmart, for example, we usually see 75% off the week after Christmas. This drops select wrapping paper to $0.25 per roll or just $0.01 per square foot. I’m serious, it’s a PENNY. Try to get gift bows for $0.04 or less and holiday gift bags for under $0.50.

Holiday Decor

Check out our guide to the Christmas clearance schedules at our favorite stores. But for a quick summary, here's when you should be shopping these sales:

  • Walmart: Dec. 26 — 50% off

  • Target: Dec. 27 — 70% off

  • Hobby Lobby: Jan. 1 — 90% off

  • Kohl's: Jan. 14 — 80% off

  • Home Depot: Dec. 30 — 75% off

3. Fashion, Tech, and More at Cyber Monday Sales

Cyber Monday falls in December this year — on Dec. 2. While we just shopped our butts off during Black Friday sales, there are some things I recommend you stock up on in December Cyber Monday sales.

Here are the deals you should be shopping for in Cyber Monday sales:

  • Apparel: Clothing retailers (think Gap, American Eagle, and Under Armour) and department stores (like Kohl's and JCPenney) drop apparel to some yearly lows. Look for men's flannel shirts, jackets for the whole fam, and more.

  • Shoes: At the same clothing retailers and department stores, you'll see deals on shoes too. Boots, sandals, dress shoes, sneakers — aim for under $20 with free shipping. Crocs, Hey Dude, and Reebok typically have big discounts during Cyber Week.

  • Vacuums: Cyber Monday (and really the whole weekend after Thanksgiving) will deliver deals on vacuums. If you're not picky about the brand, you can find cordless stick vacuums for under $75. Dyson can drop below $300 and Shark drops below $200 and sometimes even $100.

  • Small kitchen appliances: Now's the time to buy Ninja products, Keurig coffee makers, and air fryers.

4. Candles

I predict you’ll see $9.95 candles again this year in the Bath & Body Works Candle Day sale. That means you’re getting 63% off the regular price of $26.95 — but keep in mind that we'll see the Bath & Body Works Semi-Annual Sale drop at the end of December with candles up to 70% off — as low as $8. 

I personally shop the $9.95 sale because then I’ll get the scents I like most. If you wait to shop the semi-annual sale, you’ll get sale prices only on the scents they mark down. 

5. Target Gift Cards

The annual Target Gift Card Sale gets you 10% off all Target gift cards. Shop them in store or online and buy physical gift cards or digital. This is one of my favorite December sales because it's great for quick gifts. You could also purchase a gift card for a big-ticket item that rarely goes on sale, like a game console, and use it to score a 10% off deal. For example, the Xbox Series S 1TB Console is regularly $349.99. If you buy a $350 gift card during the sale, you’ll pay only $315 for it, essentially scoring a 10% discount on the Xbox.

This sale has been confirmed for Dec. 7 - 8, 2024.

6. Beauty and Personal Care Gift Sets

Stock up in December on your favorite beauty brands by getting the gift sets (for yourself). You’ll save 15% - 25% by buying these value sets while you can. 

Right now at Ulta, you’ll get the Redken Acidic Gloss Holiday Kit for $50, which is $16 less than the $66 price you’d pay buying them separately. (That’s 24% off if you were wondering.) Sephora has The Ordinary Glycolic Acid Set — a full size 8-ounce bottle and a travel 3.4-ounce bottle — for $15. Buying them separately costs $21.70, so you’ll save $6.70 on the two bottles. 

Okay, I’m done with all the math — you get the point. You'll only see more of these value set deals arriving as we get closer to Christmas. Buy the bundles!

7. Winter Skin Care From Gold Bond (Up to 74% Off)

I've got a HOT December coupon at CVS: get $10 off any Gold Bond product when you clip the digital coupon to your CVS account. The Walgreens deal above gets you 50% off, and I recommend using it on items under $10. But you should use this CVS coupon to get up to 74% off some of Gold Bond's pricier moisturizers. I'm telling you, December is the time to grab these winter dry skin deals.

Gold Bond Age Renew Retinol Lotion
In-Store or Online Deal at CVS
$3.49$13.4974% off
Exp in 11 hours
Gold Bond Crepe Corrector Lotion
In-Store or Online Deal at CVS
$9.99$19.9950% off
Exp in 11 hours

8. Plastic Storage Bins

If you’re still stuffing your Christmas decor into old Amazon boxes from college, now’s the time to give that up. Target, Home Depot, and Walmart always offer discounts on the storage bins right after Christmas. 

Here are your stock-up price goals for different-size storage totes and bins.

  • 16-gallon — Aim to spend $5 to $6 on a 64-quart or 16-gallon storage bin.

  • 18-gallon — Stay around $6 to $8 on a 72-quart or 18-gallon storage bin.

  • 27-gallon — Spend no more than $9 to $10 each on a 108-quart or 27-gallon storage bin.

9. Custom Photo and Personalized Gifts

Custom and personalized photo items make great gifts for the holidays. And you can nab some pretty decent discounts on them in December. While you have to act fast to get them in time for Christmas gifting, you could also use these deals to get discounts on photo gifts for your own home and not worry about shipping speeds or cutoffs.

More Deals and Food Freebies in December

a teen reading on a kindle at the table

Travel Tuesday: Dec. 3

Travel Tuesday happens annually the day after Cyber Monday. But, tbh, we see travel deals all throughout Black Friday weekend. The deals aren’t truly jaw dropping, but they're worth checking if you have travel plans in early 2025. You’ll typically see one-way fares under $100, bonus point offers, or vacation package discounts in these sales. 

Krispy Kreme Day of the Dozens: Dec. 12 (Predicted)

Add doughnuts to your list of things to buy in December. You'll likely see Krispy Kreme Day of the Dozens return on Dec. 12. If it's back this year, you'll get a dozen of the Original Glazed doughnuts for just $1 with the purchase of any other dozen doughnuts.

Free Shipping Day: Dec. 14

While free shipping is the norm at many online retailers now, we still have a few holding out and charging us shipping fees — looking at you, Loft and Banana Republic. But on Free Shipping Day, many retailers who normally charge for delivery offered free shipping codes so you can shop without any additional fees.

Stuff Your Kindle Day: Dec. 27

Stuff Your Kindle Day is a 24-hour event where you can get eBooks for FREE. This unofficial event is organized by independent authors, and it’s not regularly promoted on major platforms. The next event is on Dec. 27 and focuses on Dark Fiction, hosted by Dark Mode Books.

Wait until later for . . .

Bedding

The entire month of January is one of the best times to buy bedding and linens. You'll see some deals during Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales in November, but the biggest White Sales happen early in the new year.

TVs

If you missed out on Black Friday TV deals or didn't see the model you want, I see comparable TV prices in January as the Super Bowl approaches.

Fitness Equipment or Gear

Fitness gear goes on sale in late December to entice shoppers to start on their New Year’s resolutions, but you’ll get even better deals if you wait for that gear to drop even further in price. February is when you'll start to see some of the bigger discounts on fitness equipment and workout apparel.

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