Black Friday Shopping Strategies: How to Spend Smarter on Holiday Deals

Black Friday is one of the biggest shopping days of the year because of all the best discounts and deals offered. The sales increase every year, and this year will be no different. Some people wait all year for the holiday shopping season to begin to get the best prices on a new electronic gadget, a new TV or other big purchases. But shopping during the holiday season can be overwhelming. 

Preparing for Black Friday and Cyber Monday ahead of time can help you figure out problems and solve them before you start shopping and help you get the best deals. 

How to Prepare for Black Friday

Are you prepared for the upcoming holiday season? Here are some shopping strategies and tips to help you prepare for Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Learn how to get the best Black Friday deals. 

Set Your Shopping Budget in Advance

Before you start your shopping, it’s important to establish a budget, and holiday budgeting can be a challenge. You probably want to purchase gifts for your friends and family, but you also may have travel expenses to see family members. Budgeting for the holidays ahead of time can go a long way. 

You can start by making a list of all the gifts you’d like to give and consider your spending range. This will determine how much you want to spend or how much you can afford per person. As you shop, you’ll be able to track your spending to ensure you don’t go over your set budget. This will also help you be more mindful about prices.  

Bookmark Products Ahead of Time

A good way to stay within your holiday budget is to look for the items you are shopping for ahead of time. By doing some research online, you can know where the best deals are for each item you are wanting to purchase and even save yourself time looking for your listed products on Black Friday or Cyber Monday. It also may not be a bad idea to add these items to your cart online. Sometimes businesses will do early, special promotions before those big spending days or may even offer a discount on your abandoned cart. 

Compare Pricing Between Stores

Knowing what products you want ahead of time can help you compare where to purchase them. An easy way to manage and stay within your budget is by checking out different brands, stores and deals on the items you are thinking about. Also, knowing the price history of the items you are looking for will help you determine whether or not something is a good deal. 

Look for Early Deals

Sometimes businesses will offer early holiday discounts to avoid the chaos of Black Friday and Cyber Monday. By subscribing to a newsletter, downloading an app or following the store on social media, you could potentially get alerts on items you have been waiting to go on sale. Also, ordering early will ensure less shipping delays in the holiday shopping mayhem. 

Avoid Buy Now, Pay Later Offers

By offering a “buy now, pay later” plan, businesses are encouraging you to buy things you can’t afford, which could put you in debt. If you’re putting anything on your credit card, it’s always important to be mindful that you are not spending more than you already have or will have on your next pay day. There are lots of dangers with using credit around the holidays, so make sure you use yours responsibly. 

Don’t Make Impulse Purchases

When holiday shopping, it’s best that you don’t make any impulse decisions. Big purchases should be planned, especially when you are budgeting for gifts for your friends and family. Even buying a few additional items that you think won’t matter in the long run may impact your holiday budget! Stick to your spending limits. 

Some retailers try to pull tricks on shoppers during this busy season to try to make you buy more — in store and online. Avoid any freebies if you create a minimum purchase that you weren’t planning to spend, like a free item if you spend $50. “Buy one, get one” deals, free shipping and free trials are also ways that a store could deceive holiday shoppers. Remember, stick to your budget and don’t fall for these retailer tricks. 

Be Wary of Online Scams

It’s become very common in recent years for holiday shoppers to do a lot of their shopping online from the comfort of their own home. However, cybercriminals are getting more creative, so it’s important to be just as, if not more, careful when purchasing items online this year. Before clicking on emails from unknown senders, look for signs that could indicate that it is a scam — hover over links before clicking, check for typos, etc. 

While a deal may seem great in an email, it may be safer to shop at a reputable company that you know is trustworthy. Emails from unknown senders could be a phishing attempt that could fool you. Sometimes these emails or texts look real, but the goal of a phishing attempt is to steal your personal information. That’s why it is also important to not let shopping websites save your personal information. 

It may be busy season for holiday shopping online, but that means it’s also busy season for cybercriminals trying to steal your information. It's important to stay safe online while you shop.

Start Shopping Early

While beginning your holiday shopping earlier can help you avoid the craziness of Black Friday shopping, there are also some other benefits to shopping early. When people are looking to buy gifts for the holidays, it’s always possible that inventory can sell out. If you shop early, you can avoid needing a backup gift. Additionally, by shopping early, you could scope out where some of your items may be when you shop on Black Friday. 

By shopping online early, you could also avoid shipping delays from the mass amounts of people shopping on Cyber Monday. If you do want to wait for the discounts, you could have your items in your cart before Cyber Monday begins to help with a quick checkout.

Whichever method you are shopping with this holiday season, you’ll benefit from doing it early or preparing early!

Be Aware of Store Policies

It’s possible that store policies may change for items purchased on holiday shopping days. Sometimes stores will offer a price match — where they will match a cheaper price of another store if you provide proof of the deal. However, this may change if there is already a discount applied to an item. 

Here are some questions to consider when looking at store policies:

• Can sale items be returned or exchanged?
• Is there a deadline for returning or exchanging an item? (7 days, 30 days, etc.)
• Are discounted items final sale?

It’s important to know the return policies, especially when purchasing items as gifts for the December holidays. Knowing the store policies may help you save money but can also impact your shopping experience. 

Budgeting for the Holiday Season

The holiday shopping season can be fun and can be a bit hectic. Be prepared for Black Friday and Cyber Monday by creating a budget and sticking to it! Consider talking with a Farm Bureau financial advisor to see how they can help with your financial planning.