The biggest shopping day is right around the corner! Many people wait for this particular day to do some major shopping, which means that they have been preparing for months! If you are one of those people that have not yet decided on what you’ll be getting on Black Friday, don’t worry. We’ve got your back! Sometimes, planning can be a bit confusing, and when you have a ton of stores with some of the best deals, things do get a bit overwhelming.
The important part about Black Friday is that some stores do early sales and updates to their websites, so you need to keep an eye out for these. To keep up to date with these things, first and foremost, you will need to arrange a good internet connection. Without a proper internet connection, you will constantly miss deals or run into delays and possibly even lose the products or items you want.
Our advice: Get a provider that is quick to respond to your issues so you don’t fall behind on any of these deals. Xfinity customer service is known to be one the best services in the U.S. So if you are looking for a new provider, check out Xfinity internet plans first!
Here’s how you can prepare yourself for Black Friday shopping this year. Let’s take a look!
Set a Budget
Firstly, before you sit down and open your laptop or your phone to browse the deals, you should set a budget. Whether you plan to buy Christmas presents for your friends and family, or you will be buying everything for yourself, just make a budget of it all. How much are you willing to spend on yourself, how much will you spend on your friends, etc.; all of these are some of the questions you need to answer.
“Is it necessary to set a budget? What if I don’t follow it?”, you are probably thinking. It is important to set and follow the budget because it is very easy to get out of hand while shopping during a crazy sale.
If you have been saving up for quite a few months for this sale, maybe you can allow yourself to go a little crazy on the spending. However, unless you want to put a strain on your last few months of salary, you should follow the budget.
Make a List of What You Want and What You Need
After budgeting, the next step is to make a list of the items. There is one important distinction to be made here and that is the difference between want and need. What items you can not ignore or cut out from the list are the items you need, but the items you can do without are the items you want.
When you make the list, keep this in mind and try to make two sections of the list. In one section, you will add all the items you need, and in the other section, you will add the items you want.
Once you’ve made that distinction, you will be able to apply your budget more accurately to the list. These are two of the most important steps that you can’t skip when planning and preparing for a Black Friday sale.
Check the Discounted Prices
As we mentioned before, a lot of places start putting up the Black Friday deals early on, and by early, we don’t mean a few hours, but rather a few days or weeks before as well. Of course, that just means that those items will be out of stock even sooner than the others.
So, to avoid missing those items, especially if it is on your list of items to buy, you should keep checking for these things. Moreover, some places might not start the sale early, but they will put up some prices to give their customers a sort of a heads-up.
Scrutinize the Black Friday Ads
Research is another important part of this process. While Black Friday does bring some very good deals, you never know where you might find the same thing for an even lower price at some other store. Take, for example, a novel.
What if you have this one novel on your list and you saw that is being sold for $12 on sale at the first bookstore and you see it being sold for $10 at another bookstore? This is why we said research is an important part of the process.
You can do this research by examining all the Black Friday deals that you can find or go ahead and look in places and stores you already know. Once you get an idea, you will know which store to go to for which item or deal. If the stores are offering delivery, then it becomes easier to make the purchase online!
Shop Early or Plan for Shipping Delays
If some stores have started putting their items up for discounts early on, you can start your shopping in order to get the packages delivered early as well. This is especially useful if you have some last-minute shopping for an event or need something urgently.
However, if you want to wait and see if you get an even better deal elsewhere, then you should be prepared for delayed shipping considering that there will be an influx of orders for every store to go through.
Some stores that have already started putting up Black Friday deals are:
- Samsung
- Best Buy
- Dell
- HP
- Amazon
- Home Depot
- Walmart
- Verizon
In Review
Keeping your cell phone with you only to check the notifications repeatedly is exactly what Black Friday is all about! Even if you miss something because it running out of stock, you can always try again next year (if it isn’t that necessary).
Otherwise, if you want it right away, you can just shop for it during the early Black Friday sales so that you don’t miss it. It’s all about prioritizing, making lists, and budgeting. Be sure to stay within your budget lest you suffer the consequences of splurging!