It’s almost Thanksgiving! For the first time in my life, I will be responsible for cooking the holiday bird. For the second time in my life, I will not be with my parents or my in-laws for the holiday. While I’m a bit excited about brining the bird and making some of the sides I read about in the New York Times this week, I’m even more excited about hitting those Black Friday sales for the first time in years. Usually when visiting family, we forego those manic day-after-Thanksgiving sales—once I’ve driven through holiday traffic, the last thing I want to do is brave the traffic at the mall. So since I am staying home for the holiday and won’t be with extended family, I’m going shopping on Friday!
Planning my trip to some Black Friday stores made me think about some shopping tips:
1 – Shop with a list. I can’t stress this enough. It’s the best way to control your impulses – and your budget.
2 - Don’t try to get everything done in one day. I have heard stories about people who do this – and I must admit I am impressed. But the holidays are stressful enough without putting extra pressure on yourself. Make a plan that you can live with and stick to it.
3 – Do your homework, especially on big-ticket items. It’s good to do some checking to see what the price ranges are for items you want to buy, especially big ticket items like electronics.
If you do plan on going out on Black Friday, use your time well. It’s easier than ever to know what to expect before you get your ad circular with websites like Black Friday Ads. This site gets information on what about 50 retailers will offer at sales on Black Friday. As they say on their site, “For the casual shopper, you can use our search feature to search for the cheapest price for an item throughout all stores, create a shopping list and generally plan your entire Black Friday shopping experience a good week or two in advance. (The actual ads are usually released two days before Black Friday, with one of those days being Thanksgiving - not a whole lot of planning time there.)”
In addition to checking online and finding out where you can get the best prices, here are some resources from the GovGab blog that offer useful shopping tips and information:
- Before Black Friday: Where the Holiday 2009 Deals Are Right Now
- Black Friday News
- How to Plan for Black Friday
- Preventing Holiday Shopping Headaches
- Tips for Smart Holiday Shopping
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