Having a gift closet is a great frugal hack, as it saves you money all year long. A stash of “evergreen” presents means you’re ready for any occasion.

(Especially those that sound like this: “Hey, I forgot to tell you, I’m invited to Jack’s birthday party on Saturday.”)

If you pick your spots, the first few shopping days of the holiday season are a great way to put some oomph into your gift closet. They’re also a good chance to hit some specific gift milestones, and maybe even to get something your own household needs (or wants).

Gifts for people who are pregnant, getting married, and or heading off to/graduating from college abound in sales flyers for Black Friday et al. Maybe it’s time to check a few gifts off your own upcoming events?

You’ll see towels, sheets, blankets and the like starting at just a few bucks. Last year, I spent just $5.99 for a luxuriously warm blanket in a rich mulberry color. It’s on our bed, and between it and the comforter we’ve been a little too warm lately.

Then again, poking an arm or leg out of a cozy bed is one of the great joys of a winter night. In “Dandelion Wine,” Ray Bradbury described it thusly:

“…sticking your feet out of the hot covers in wintertime to let the cold wind from the open window blow on them suddenly and you let them stay out a long time until you pull them back in under the covers again to feel them, like packed snow.”

Someone who’s setting up a first apartment might really appreciate something like that, especially if you could afford to pair it with a set of sheets. Maybe a half-dozen bath towels and washcloths would be a big help for that new apartment-dweller.

Small appliances like coffeemakers, electric fry pans and slow cookers are typical loss leaders. The Kohl’s flyer I got in the mail offers these for $2.14 after coupon and rebate.

Why didn’t they save that price for Valentine’s Day, I wonder? Maybe it’s because none of these are romantic enough. But they’d be a big help for someone setting up housekeeping – and that includes getting married.

Yes, I know that wedding registries are a thing. But they’re more a lifestyle option than a mandate, especially if you’re on a tight budget. Some friends wouldn’t mind your asking, “So…Would the two of you be interested in a coffeemaker?” And if your friends are also on tight budgets, they might be absolutely delighted with a small appliance.

Other Black Friday gift closet tactics

That coffeemaker could also be a wise investment for your own household. Sooner or later your old one will give up the ghost. Or possibly you’ll drop the glass pitcher on some dark, caffeine-deprived morning. Having a $2.14 coffeemaker waiting in the wings would probably be cheaper than buying a new pitcher.

Maybe this is the year you’ll replace your worn-out bath towels, or at least the ones with the small holes and the unraveling hems. Perhaps some of your socks are starting to develop holes, too. And if you’re starting over after divorce, watch for those loss-leader dishes or cookware sets – they might be cheaper than the thrift store.

But back to gift closets. Watch for present options for occasions like:

Birthday gifts/birthday party gifts. Again, toys and such will likely be cheaper next month. But doorbuster games, stuffed animals and craft kits could be good to keep around vs. having to pay full price at the last minute. Ditto gifts for your own kids, or nieces, nephews or grandkids – and gifts for other adults, such as picture frames, journals, candles and accessories.

Valentine’s Day. All that red! Just ignore the green stuff. But seriously: Not everyone gives gifts on Feb. 14, but if it’s a treasured custom then keep your eyes peeled for watches, jewelry, scarves and, if you must, stuffed animals.

Mother’s Day/Father’s Day. Remember that some women want power tools as much as men do. Both sexes might appreciate clothing or accessories.

Baby gifts. Clothing, accessories and bigger-ticket items – if you know someone who’s expecting, why not buy those burp cloths or whatever for half-price?

High-school graduation. Will someone be heading off to college or trade school in the fall, or even in January? Extra-long sheet sets to fit the dormitory beds would be a utilitarian gift, as would a set of towels. You could always sweeten the present by adding a gift card to Target or Bed Bath & Beyond, with a note saying it’s for buying dorm-room supplies. (Don’t count on it lasting that long, though.)

College graduation/first apartment. That slow cooker could come in mighty handy for someone with student loans and a starter salary. So could one of those cookware sets, or dishes, or a Rubbermaid food-storage set – all three tend to be on sale at this time of year.

Housewarming. Look past the cutesy signs about “home” or “wine,” and toward the practical stuff. No, a shop-vac isn’t sexy – but it’s pretty darned useful. So are things like hand or power tools, ladders, sawhorses and a plumber’s snake.

Retirement. Will someone you love be transitioning this year? Try to find a present that coincides with future plans, including but not limited to carry-on luggage, classic literature, tools, skis, an e-reader, camera equipment or a good set of knives.

Is it worth the price?

Not every “deal” on Black Friday is the best possible price. For example, this 2018 article from NerdWallet notes that several retailers sold a particular Dyson vacuum cleaner for $20 less on Veterans Day than Black Friday – and $139 less than the Dyson website price. The February price for a certain Samsung washing machine was $96 less than the Black Friday price, and $370 less than the manufacturer’s suggested retail price.

Toys, bicycles and other kid-centric gifts are being heavily advertised. But they’re likely to be cheaper in December, according to deal expert Trae Bodge. Naturally you’ll see a few exceptions this Thursday and Friday, such as $2.99 classic board games.

You might save money by using apps and sites like PriceGrabber, CamelCamelCamel (Amazon only), Honey and SlickDeals. They will compare prices, sometimes provide price histories and even let you set an alert for when an item’s cost reaches the level you’re able to pay.

And before you buy electronics, laptops or pretty much anything over the next week, do a little research. If the brand/model is universally panned, maybe it’s not such a great deal after all.

A low-key Black Friday

You probably don’t need to stand in line for some of these deals, since most are available online as well as in-store. Some people still recall the mad crushes of shoppers fighting to get to loss leaders, altercations that sometimes led to physical injury or even death.

Those are pretty much a thing of the past, but some people don’t want to take chances – or to get up that early. Since some deals start on Thanksgiving night, you can shop in your jammies while eating leftover turkey.

Some “doorbuster” deals might require you to make an in-person visit. But that can be fun, too, especially if they give you doughnuts. I was in search of a doorbuster last year when I found the blanket. Oddly, I can’t recall what deal I was seeking, but I did walk out with several of those blankets: one for us and the rest for my nephews (their mom reimbursed me and used them as Christmas gifts).

Which brings me to the caveat emptor version of today’s festivities: Watch your wallet.

There’s a peculiar kind of math some people do when they see a discount: At that price, I can’t NOT buy it. Or its insidious cousin: Normally this costs $109 but now it’s only $70 – that’s only $20 more than what I’ve budgeted for this gift, and it’s SUCH a good product…

If you really can’t afford that stroller or television even at the Black Friday price, don’t talk yourself into breaking the bank.

Oh, and of course: If you don’t need it, then it’s no bargain.

Readers: Will you be deal-seeking on Thursday, Friday or beyond? Or are you already finished your shopping?

Related reading:

• Extreme frugality: Holiday shopping edition
• 7 ways that Black Friday is like sex
• Some frugal Christmas parodies

(Happy Thanksgiving, and Happy Throwback Thursday! In honor of all the food that will be prepared — and perhaps wasted — over the next few days, I’m republishing this piece from May 12, 2012. It’s my hope that a little judicious leftover prep and/or freezing will cut down on waste.)

I didn’t get to the supermarket for a few days after my arrival in Anchorage. Until then, I used the milk and oatmeal my hostess already had. When I mentioned that I’d be replacing what I used, she looked surprised.

“Uh, that’s really old milk. I meant to warn you off it,” she said.

It had tasted fine to me. That is to say, it tasted about as good as nonfat milk ever tastes – like the water they used to wash a cow. All that mattered to me is that it loosened up the oats in the bowl.

I nearly changed my tune when I checked the “sell by” date: April 5. It was then May 6. I was drinking milk a month past its prime.

Right about now your stomach may be curdling. The milk hadn’t, though. Linda B. bought it to fix a specific dish for Easter and then left the rest on the top shelf for the next month. It never left the fridge so it apparently didn’t have a chance to spoil.

I think we throw food away way too easily in this country.

Not good enough

In the past few months I’ve been making a serious effort to clear out the freezer and cupboards. Since I date the food I freeze, I know that the ground beef had been cooked 11 months previously and that the whole fryer was about a year old. I made bread pudding using shredded coconut that I know is at least four years old. I stewed some rhubarb that was going on five years old.

They all turned out just fine. If the ground beef had been dry I sure couldn’t tell after it was made into chili. The chicken produced copious pan juices. The rhubarb may (or may not) have been freezer-burned, but stewed and mixed with my homemade yogurt the flavor was as sweet-tangy as I’d remembered from previous summers.

This is not to say that we should let our food get old. My goal is to create a better (i.e., written) system so that the rhubarb doesn’t crouch down behind bags of frozen wild blackberries. But as a nation we turn up our noses a little too easily at anything we think of as substandard.

One MSN Money reader talked of a roommate who threw milk away on its sell-by date. He didn’t pour a little in a cup to sniff it for sourness, but automatically tossed it out.

I’ve also heard of people who throw away leftovers after two days in the fridge. Seriously? Cooked food won’t go bad in two days unless the fridge is unplugged.

Why not freeze things if you aren’t going to eat them? Why waste them?

Meanwhile, back in Anchorage…

I put the apples and oranges I’d bought into the bottom drawer of the fridge. (At no point did I compare them.) A couple of days later I sliced into a Sunkist and found it was partially frozen. The apples were, too. Since I knew they’d probably be mushy when thawed, I cut them up and cooked them into applesauce.

After Linda hosted her writers’ group we grazed for days on the leftovers. Almost a week later there was still a little roasted chicken left, so I turned it into what I can only describe as mock curry. It’d never pass muster in Madras, but I’m rather fond of the dish. But it was a little too thick, so I took Linda up on her offer to use anything in the cupboard. Before I opened the can of chicken broth I decided to check the “best by” date.

You guessed it: Old. Really old. As in “March 2002.”

The can wasn’t bulging and there was no suspicious odor. I stirred it into the curry and ate the one-pot-glop results off and on for a week. And I didn’t die. Not even a little bit.

Incidentally, what’s known as an “expiration date” doesn’t mean much of anything. They’re not even required by federal law except on infant formula and certain types of baby foods. When you’re talking dry or canned goods, the date means the end of peak flavor. “It’s just a quality issue,” a USDA spokeswoman told me. (For more information, see this USDA fact sheet.)

I do have some standards. When mold grew on the last few slices of bread I gave it a Christian burial. The previous day it had been merely stale, whereupon I turned it into French toast. I should have frozen the rest before it got moldy. Next time I will.

A former co-worker who grew up in various Alaska villages would have cut off the moldy part and eaten the rest. That’s too much even for cast-iron-stomach me. Then again, he talks about eating eggs that “came over with Baranof.” He and his family also ate WWII powdered eggs up until the early 1960s. It’s a toss-up as to which oeufs were more dismal.

The point is they were food and the family ate it. When you’re a village kid, you don’t ever waste food.

The way you look at food

That makes me a village kid, I guess, although the rural area where I grew up was referred to as a “township.” I was raised by a mother whose family lived much of the year on garden produce, dry beans, biscuits and white gravy and by a father whose family ate whatever his mom could grow and his dad could shoot. (As a kid my dad swore when he grew up he would never willingly eat another rabbit. He never has.)

My three siblings and I ate whatever was put in front of us – and quickly, too, because if you cleaned your plate you had a shot at getting some of the last little bit of potatoes left in the bowl.

Would we have dreamed of saying, “Eeewww, that meat loaf is three days old – I won’t eat it”? Oh, hell, no. (Not that meat loaf would last for three days with four kids around.)

Would anyone I knew have thought that milk too close to its sell-by date should be thrown out? Nope. In fact, we might have hoped it was close to its sell-by date, because it might be discounted. The freshness of bread was a moot point because ours came a dozen loaves at a time from the bakery outlet.

A couple of weeks before I left Seattle I found milk for 99 cents a gallon at the Asian market near my house. Its sell-by date was the next day. I turned it into two delicious batches of yogurt. And I still didn’t die.

I’m not saying that everyone has to eat the way I do. But I’m suggesting that you reconsider the way you look at “old” food, or at least at the buy-and-use practices that let food get old in the first place.

For example: If your fridge is full of mouldering take-out containers perhaps you could concentrate on finishing leftovers before bringing more food home? You could even learn basic cooking so you don’t spend so much money on food that you don’t even finish.

Or if you make a big pot of chili and get tired of it in two days, for heaven’s sake freeze it in small portions. Instant lunches! Or here’s an idea: Cook a smaller pot next time.

How many hours did you have to work to earn the ingredients? How much energy, fertilizer, pesticide and water did it take to produce and preserve the tomatoes, meat, beans and spices? When “old” food goes down the disposal those resources disappear, too.

Like your grandma said, people are starving in Africa. They’re also starving in the United States. It’s unlikely that either group would check a sell-by date before eating. But it’s pretty likely that the close-dated milk is still good.