Black Friday is the day for the biggest sale of the year, if you do it the right way. To be honest, I am not too crazy about sales because the house always wins. These companies mark up their product by almost 120 % then they advertise a phantom sale of 50%, so when the consumer think they are saving money; it is the company that is really making money.
Black Friday is a good day to get gifts for everyone on your Christmas list. Here are some ways to ensure you are getting the best bang for your buck
1) KNOW WHAT YOU WANT TO BUY: Never go into black Friday without a plan, then you run the risk of shopping with emotions. Do your research on the items you want to buy, get a spreadsheet, and list all the items and their prices. Then you can compare the price on the day of the sale to ensure you are not falling for the phantom sales
2) ONLY BUY WHAT YOU NEED AND WILL USE: Don’t buy an item just because it is on sale, ask yourself if you really need the item. If the answer is no, walk away. A personal rule for me is asking myself if I would pay full price for the item, if my answer is no, I don’t buy it.
3) DO NOT GO OVER YOUR BUDGET: This is very important, there is no point in spending money you don’t have or that has been budgeted for something else. The truth is there will always be a sale and there will always be a better version of any product. So, if you can afford it now, it is okay. One of the ways I enjoy black Friday guilt free is by creating a sinking fund at the beginning of the year for this sole purpose.
4) AVOID YOUR TRIGGERS: If you are one of those that are easily swayed by adverts of any kind, avoid your triggers. That may look like not logging into your email (you know that email where they spam you with all the “great deals”), watching ad free shows, temporarily unfollowing your favorite influencer on social media.
5) WHEN IN DOUBT, STAY AT HOME/OFFLINE: If you don’t need anything, that is perfectly normal. Don’t wonder around the mall trying to find what is not missing or in my case, stay off amazon….lol
Question of the day: What is the best part of black Friday for you?
Until next time, remember, you can do all things through Christ who strengthens you.
