All of us collegiettes want to save money right? But we also want to give amazing gifts to all our family and friends. One of the best ways to accomplish both of these is to take advantage of the US’s most important holiday of the year: Black Friday.
Black Friday is the one day a year where we all get a little bit “coupon-queen” crazy and fight tooth and nail over a pair of off-brand boots. Everything is on sale, and even if you don’t want something, if it’s cheap enough you will get it. There’s just such a good feeling about knowing someone somewhere payed full price for this child’s easy bake oven but you only paid a third of the retail value. It’s not so much of what you actually end up getting, it’s the fact that you got it at such a low price.
However, Black Friday can get a little dangerous! Women are stomping on feet and pushing people out of the way just so they can have that novelty Margarita mixer. Here are some things to keep in mind when racing around the stores next Friday.
WHAT TO WEAR:
Black Friday gets pretty real out there, ladies! People will not hesitate to grab you by the ponytail and yank you aside so they can get a low-price Magic Bullet blender. Pull your hair up in a bun and wear tight clothes such as leggings and a pullover. Also, carry a smaller cross body bag instead of a clutch or a heavy tote bag. You don’t want to remember to carry something around the whole day and you don’t want the bulkiness of your hobo bag or Longchamp purse to get in the way. Wear comfortable shoes, à la Wendy Davis during her filibuster, so you can wait in those long lines without breaking a sweat.
WHERE TO GO:
Make a game plan, girls! Before you go to bed all sleepy from your yummy Thanksgiving feast, make sure you know what the plan is for the next day. Which stores are you going to head to first? Many stores such as H&M or K-Mart offer early bird deals to the first hundred people who come in. This can be as early as 5:30 or 6 AM, so sleep tight the night before. There’s an app called FastMall which saves the floorplan of over a thousand different malls all over the country. You can type in the name of your mall and it will pull up a map and even give you turn by turn directions! You can use this instead of wandering around aimlessly trying to find Victoria’s Secret.
WHAT TO BUY:
You really need to write down everything you want to buy. It doesn’t have to be everything you need to buy, but the things you’ve been thinking about lately. Think of it as more of a wish list than a grocery list. But really… this is important! Make lists of gift ideas or stuff you want to treat yourself with and stick to those lists! You want to avoid buying useless junk that you happened to see on the shelf for half price. Another tip in buying smartly is using Retail Me Not which is available both online and as an app. Retail Me Not provides information on current sales and gives you free coupons as well as online codes. Not all of these work, but the measure of success is usually posted. This is a good way to save even more money! One more tip: always, ALWAYS ask about the return policy. Some stores have weird return policies for Black Friday purchases and you don’t want to be tricked.
I hope these tips are helpful during your shopping frenzy next Friday. Stay safe, and stay saving!