Black Friday is coming up and with one of the best shopping holidays approaching we all need to be prepared. So below I listed some of my best shopping tips for shopping a sale and not getting carried away by a great buy.
1- Make a Budget
This is probably the hardest one for me but it’s important that you go in with a budget of what you want to spend. Black Friday can be overwhelming and having a rough estimate of how much you want to spend can help you realize you don’t need that shirt in a Fourth color no matter the price. I always try to budget by item. Like for example if I want a nice good quality coat I would give myself a budget of around $150. I would then do the same for other items for myself or for others. I normally hand write out my budgets (which drives my fiancé crazy) but you could easily do it on your phone or computer as well. I then write down exactly how much I spent!
2-Check your prices
I have learned this the hard way- Black Friday is not always the cheapest price for goods and the same goods on different websites can also vary greatly in price so make sure you do some prior research. I have seen companies mark up items and then put them on sale during Black Friday making the item literally $5 cheaper than its initial retail value so be careful. One quick way to do this is Google the item. Thanks to Google shopping it will often pull up various websites that have the good with the price.
3- Use Ebates
Make sure to make money while you shop! If you are online shopping or even in store it doesn’t hurt to see what cash back you are going to be getting. Even if you return the item you still get to keep the cash back!
4- Don’t buy it just because it’s on sale
This is one I always have to remind myself. Sometimes we see the item we want on sale… but not necessarily the color we wanted. Sometimes it’s better to save up for the classic color you wanted then buy the one sale color because a lot of the time you end up not loving the one you bought. Or even worse you end up with both and hen don’t use one. Also if even it is reasonably priced but don’t use it then what was the point of buying it?
5- Remember there will always be another sale
You don’t have to feel like your missing out if you are trying to save money or you don’t see the perfect item. There will always be another sale! Especially after the holiday season!
