What you should be buying out of season

Once seasonal demand drops away at the end of the Easter break, prices tend to drop too. Some products have short expiry dates so retailers want to offload them as quickly as possible to avoid waste, and others just take up too much space in warehouses.

If you’re happy to use things up sooner rather than later, or you have enough suitable storage room, you can bag yourself a few bargains right now. It’s definitely worth a look.

Easter chocolates

Lovers of chocolate eggs who don’t have a strict rule of only eating them on Easter Sunday are in for a treat. Hunt around supermarkets, chocolate shops and online retailers to find your favourites for half price or less.

Other Easter goodies

There are plenty of items on sale for Easter that are really just spring-themed and will still look good for a while. Look out for bakeware, ornaments, tablecloths, pictures, cards, egg cups, plates and so on. They’re all great for giving your home a fresh seasonal look.

Anything that says out-and-out ‘Happy Easter!’ on it can be put aside for next year, provided you have room to store it and the price is right.

Garden watering

While the hosepipe ban is on, nobody’s really buying hosepipes. Many DIY and gardening stores currently have great offers on hosepipes and sprayer attachments as they’re desperate to shift the stock. This includes some of the bigger brand names as well as own-brand items. The ban will be lifted eventually, so gardeners might as well be prepared.

h2>Cool-weather fashion

British summers are unpredictable to say the least, and purchases such as coats and boots tend to be very expensive compared with warm-weather clothing. At the first sign of sun, these prices are usually slashed, and you can find some excellent deals. Stick to classic designs, or search online for pictures from the Autumn/Winter 2012 season ready-to-wear catwalk collections to make sure what you’re buying is on-trend. I like www.style.com for their comprehensive catwalk coverage, and make a quick note of shapes, fabrics and colours before I shop.

Winter sports

If you’re a skier or snowboarder, now’s a good time to find deals on sports equipment and protective clothing. You could maybe look at the prices for advance booking your next trip too – early bookings can save you as much as very late bookings, if you’re prepared to hunt around.