If you have never braved a mall on Black Friday then you are truly missing out on an experience. I live within twenty minutes of 2 of the top 15 largest malls in the country plus countless other average size malls, so I have easy access to being sure of getting some great deals. However, if you don’t live in the shopping capital of the East Coast, there are almost as many amazing deals online and the only thing you would miss out on would be waiting in long lines and pushing and sprinting your way into a store when it open’s at 4 am.
· Don’t go into the mall blind. If you have no idea what you are looking for, you are at the mercy of all the deals. The signs like 60% off or Buy One Get One Free will pull you in to buying something you do not need or have no one to give it to. Make a list of products you are interested in.
· Do look online first and see what kind of deals you can find. Most of the stores will have ads that tell you their best deals. You can also find ads in the newspaper if you still get one. There will be tons and tons of flyers with information about what they are offering.
· Do price check. Having worked in retail before, I can promise you that stores mark up prices just so they can put a discount on them to make you think you are getting a deal. Just look at the prices not the percentage off because they may be trying to trick you.
· Don’t go if you aren’t prepared to give up a big chunk of your day. Even if you go in the middle of the night and are home by the time you would normally be waking up, you’re going to spend your afternoon napping. One year my sister and I were home by 9am after shopping for 5 hours and then went back to bed.
· Do make a budget. When you see so many amazing products and think you are saving a ton of money it is easy to not realize that it is all still adding up. Plan how much you want to spend and then keep track of the money spent at each store in your phone and add it up as you go. This way there’s no surprise on that bank statement.
· Don’t forget to use coupons. It is one of the rare days where you can definitely still use coupons on discounted products. Either cut them out of the newspaper, print them out or screenshot them on your phone. With so many people shopping and trying to use them at once, the sites or apps may go down at points in the day or the chance there is bad cell service. Don’t risk getting to the register and it not loading, have it already saved.
· Do have fun! It is an adrenaline rush. It is fun to find amazing deals and know that you can get your friends and family more gifts because you are saving so much money or surviving this holiday season with a smaller dent in your wallet.
Photo Credits:
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http://b-i.forbesimg.com/briansolomon/files/2013/12/Carters-Black-Friday-2013.jpg
http://assets.nerdwallet.com/blog/shopping/files/2013/11/black-friday-ads-v3.jpg
http://9to5toys.files.wordpress.com/2013/11/9to5toys-black-friday-2013-line.jpg?w=704
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