1. Have a Budget and No Matter What, Stick To The Budget!
Before you go shopping on Black Friday and are surrounded by hoards of people, good deals, and the need to quickly grab and stuff every item in your cart or arms, you have to have a budget! If you can’t afford what you are buying, IT IS NOT A GOOD DEAL!
2. Have a Plan
The key to Black Friday success and avoid being frustrated and upset is to have a plan. First of all, make a list of everyone you need to buy for. You can either divide up your budget now, or start with items you know you want to buy and work backward through the list. (For example, if you have $1000 budget and the items you want to buy for the kids are $300, you have $700 left to divide up among the rest of your list.) The Black Friday ads are already being leaked and now is the time to go through them and figure out exactly what you want to purchase, which stores have it, (and what time the sales are for those particular items). There is nothing more frustrating than trying to shop without a plan on Black Friday when the stores are swarming with people and you can barely move from one aisle to the next.
After you have your Black Friday list of where you are going and what you are buying, you need to go back to your list and devise a schedule. Some of the sales are for the entire day, some are for 4 hours, some are for 6 hours, etc. My advice in order to be successful in getting what you want is to go to the stores that the sales run all day AFTER the stores that have a time limit on the items you want on sale.
My family has always met Thanksgiving night and went through our lists together and made our plan for Black Friday. We know where we are going, what we are getting, and if someone doesn’t need anything at that particular store, that person helps the others shop for what is on their shopping lists.
3. Do some online investigating
This year I am in the market for a new camera. As I’ve been looking through the ads online, I’ve compared them to Amazon, Target, and Walmart’s current price to see if it is actually a good deal. I’m also looking at reviews to see if it’s really the camera I want. Personally, I’d rather buy it online than go to the store anyway, and if there’s not much difference, I’ll avoid the chaos!
4. Conquer & Divide
My family’s Black Friday tradition is that we divide and conquer. We always bring out ads with us, just in case someone misses something or to use for price matching. If you are going to Target, check out the Cartwheel App and Target coupons on your phone and online to possibly save a little more. In the past, we have had my mom, my aunt, my grandma, and myself all shopping at the same store but we all divide up and go for particular items, not shopping as a pack until we are ready to check out. This way we have more of a chance to get what we are after and it’s very hard to move around a crammed store in a big group.
5. Try Shopping Online
If you hate the crowds or getting up early, this is an excellent way to still take advantage of some of the sales. Last year, I scored Clorox Wipes at Office Max (which I use a lot of!) for $.99 a container. I made sure I shopped through Ebates and also saved an extra 3%. I used most of these at home but did include some in Teacher’s baskets for the kids. Not exactly traditional Christmas shopping but it was a great deal, and I use them all the time! Other stores have Black Friday online sales as well and don’t forget about Cyber Monday (the Monday after Thanksgiving) for online shopping!
What are your Black Friday success secrets?
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