Black Friday. You either love it or you hate it. Those who love it, live for it! They love the crowds, the excitement and the 3 AM wake up call. Those who hate it might stay home, but nowadays even the homebodies are getting in on the action thanks to online Black Friday sales!
Does Black Friday always seem to catch you off guard? This year, I’ve written up a 2 part guide to help you get ready for Black Friday! If you follow these steps, you will be ready and raring to go bright and early that Friday morning (or in some cases, Thanksgiving evening!), grabbing deals left and right and walking out with exactly what you went in for!
1. Write out who you need to buy for. First things first, you need a list of who is on your gift giving list this year. Don’t rely on last years list! Sit down with your family and think about everyone that you might want to give a gift to this year.
2. Figure out how much you have to spend. I can’t believe how many people I know who don’t think about this until the night before Black Friday. Setting a Black Friday budget is one of THE very first things you need to do! Figure out overall how much you have to spend on presents. Do you plan on buying ALL of your holiday presents during Black Friday? Or just a few? Decide now what you are going to budget for Black Friday Spending and stick to it like glue!
3. Figure out how much you plan to spend per person. This can be tough! Attaching a monetary value to your loved ones isn’t fun. But it’s reasonable to expect that you’ll spend a bit more on your children then on your uncle who you see once every 5 years.
4. Find out what stores you might want to shop and whether you plan to shop online or in store. There are certain stores you won’t catch me within a 500 mile radius of on Black Friday (okay, for me that’s most stores. I’m not a big Black Friday shopper!). Other stores offer the same deals in store as they do online. Think about what you might want and where you might want to purchase it.
5. Get a copy of any “pre” black Friday ads. MANY companies are offering sneak peeks at their Black Friday ads. Check out the companies Facebook page or search online for “XYZ Store Black Friday ads”. In the coming weeks, more and more ads will be “leaked”. Remember that the store witholds the right to change things up at any time, but it’s good to know what might be available for purchase.
Stay tuned for next week’s Momtastic article: Get Ready For Black Friday: Part 2!
