The Christmas (and/or holiday) season has two phases of life: before and after. We are certainly hitting the Christmas season afterlife at this point. If you haven’t yet spent all your money on gifts, and racked up enough debt to last you until the next holiday season, here is your chance once again; department stores and boutiques are all trying to hoist off their leftover merchandise by having after-Christmas sales.

I love this time of year, mainly because I finally get to buy what I really wanted for Christmas. And who can beat the advertised deals? They certainly beat the after-Thanksgiving "deals", and you don’t have to be up at 4AM in order to take advantage of them.

However, even when you’re shopping for these post-holiday bargains, it still pays to be a savvy consumer. Not all sales are truly great deals. Also, by timing your shopping over the entire year, you may actually do better over the long haul- especially if you’re already out buying presents for next year’s Christmas (you overachiever!). Here are the top 10 ways that you can get the best shopping deals, whether immediately after Christmas, or at any time of the year:

1. Forget BOGO. The Buy-One-Get-One sales are a boon for merchants because they get to move more merchandise and make a profit in the process. Most clothing items have an astronomical mark-up on them, so even if a sweater or skirt is offered for BOGO, that still means a hefty profit for the merchants. Also, most consumers lose out when purchasing through BOGO sales because they may not need two pairs of boots or two shirts. BOGO is even more wasteful when it comes to food: it’s doubtful that you will have a chance to finish off two gallons of milk before one of them spoils.

The only time BOGO deals work is when you split the cost, and the merchandise, with someone else. At that point, if there is something for which you’ve had a hankering, and this item is never on sale, you and someone else can win out by purchasing two of these items via BOGO.

2. Shop at the end of the month. Most retail stores follow a tiered sales system, where clearance sales begin at the start of the month and are then  progressively discounted week by week until the end of the month. Thus, you’re better off just dedicating your last monthly weekend to shopping excursions. 

3. Buy Yellow, stop at Red. There’s a funny thing about the way that department stores do business: they will start a clearance sale off by posting yellow tags on merchandise and then progressively discounting those items over the course of the month. Once the next month starts, the yellow tags are replaced by red tags for final clearance. However, contrary to popular belief, those red tags do not offer a lower price than last month’s lowest-priced yellow tags. In fact, while deep-discounted yellow tags may offer a price discount by as much as 90%, red tags typically offer a price discount of anywhere from 40-80%. It’s a common ruse that is used by merchants in order to make a slightly better profit while convincing consumers that the red tag offers the best deal. 

4. Go early (or late) for a sale. Unbeknown to most consumers, most major department stores have an unspoken policy that a consumer can obtain the sale price on an item either a day before the actual sale starts or a day after the sale actually ends. All one needs to do is ask. This is especially handy if you are aware of an upcoming sale, which allows you to take advantage of incredible merchandise selection before anyone else gets their hands on it.

5. Make a flexible price adjustment. Retail stores typically offer consumers a set time frame when price adjustments can be made. What retail stores won’t admit to is that the "set" time frame can actually be extended from 7 to 14 days. As long as you ask for the price change, most stores will give it to you. Don’t be embarrassed about asking; the retailer is still making a profit off of you, so no one is doing you any favors here.

6. Spot the scanner. In every store, there are associates who are in charge of setting item prices for upcoming sales. You’ll typically see them scanning items in order to have them ring up at a different price. These folks not only know when the next upcoming store sale will occur, but also what items will be offered. These are also the folks that you may want to chum up to in order to find out some "insider" information. It doesn’t hurt to ask; retailers know that more people buy stuff at sales than at any other time. If a retailer can count on you to make a purchase in a few days via a sale, he/she will certainly divulge any required information.

7. Get your Savings Pass. Many retail stores, even luxury high-end retail store like Macy’s, offer shoppers savings passes that give anywhere from 10-20% every purchase made that day/weekend. Most often, these passes are published in weekly circulars or newspapers. However, they can also be obtained just by going up to the Customer Service counter at the store and simply asking.

8. Make flaws and imperfections your friend. No one desires to purchase an imperfect bra (3 cups?) or "slightly" damaged glass. However, some items can be purchased as imperfect and/or damaged, even if the actual item is completely perfect and intact. What gives? Well, actually, it’s the packaging. An item still qualifies as imperfect and/or damaged if its packaging has been compromised. As a result, most stores will discount such an item by at least 10-20%. If there is no such discount on that item, just ask- hardly any store will refuse to give it to you.

9. Forget your savings coupon/card. Let’s say you just picked up a whole bunch of items that your newspaper’s store savings coupon mentioned for a 25% off offer. You get to the cash register and realize that your trusty newspaper is sitting at home (or, at least in my case, has been used for kindling in the fireplace). Don’t worry; just mention that coupon to the store clerk. Most stores will honor the savings coupon, even if it is present only in spirit. All you have to do is mention it. On a side note, a store is almost guaranteed to honor your savings coupon if you have a store credit card.

10. Get those clearance sales zombies. In some cases, zombies can be quite helpful to you. Rather than eating away at your brains, clearance sale zombies can save you additional cash. Here’s how such zombies work: most stores do not manage to sell all clearance sale items during a clearance sale. The leftover items go into what is termed "back stock" and sit it out for a few months. The "back stock" is then returned to the sales floor a few months later, or whenever the store does its next big clearance sale.

Keep in mind that typical sales cycles run 12 weeks. So, if swimsuits went through their first clearance sale in September, that means that zombie swimsuits will make a return in late December. Zombie winter coats and jackets will typically  make their appearance in May and June. If you can stand waiting on fashion for 6 months (much as is done in the real fashion industry), you’ll end up shooting down some real zombie bargains. And you won’t even need any machetes or wood chippers.

Note: For more information on how to get rid of REAL zombies, click here.