Black Friday shopping can be a daunting and stressful time. Looking around for the perfect gift, while exciting and fun, can be time-consuming and confusing… but it doesn’t have to be!
As someone that studies Black Friday sales year after year, I’ve come across a lot of patterns and tips that make Black Friday shopping much easier. Read on for my best Black Friday shopping tips and stay tuned for my ultimate Black Friday shopping guide!
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Black Friday Shopping Tips
Create a Realistic Budget
When it comes to Black Friday shopping, it can be easy to go over budget with all the great deals happening. Set a realistic budget to keep yourself on task. Personally, I find it helpful to set a budget per person AND an overall budget. This would also be a great opportunity to have your loved ones create a wishlist of items they’d like so you can budget accordingly.
Make a List
Making a list of people that you’re shopping for during Black Friday will make planning and budgeting much easier! I typically only buy actual gifts for the people that I’m closest to in my life (husband, immediate family, BFF, etc). If you want to include co-workers, colleagues, extended family and others, I recommend doing something smaller to stay on budget. You can get a budget-friendly gift card ($5 or $10 is completely fine) or make something! Home-made ornaments, hot chocolate jar gift sets, gift baskets, cookies, etc are all thoughtful and inexpensive gifts!
Prepare Ahead of Time
Preparing a plan of action ahead of time for your Black Friday shopping is vital! With the shipping craziness and stock issues, long gone are the days of last minute shopping (for the most part). Preparing a plan ahead of time ensures that you will stay within budget, access the items that you need or want and save you from the stress of the holiday season.
I highly recommend checking out my Black Friday Shopping Guide from last year to make a plan of action. I make these guides every single year and I’ve found that most retailers actually don’t change their sales too much! By doing this, you know what to expect for Black Friday and can plan accordingly.
Start Shopping Earlier
I feel like Black Friday shopping starts earlier and earlier every year! In fact, it’s already started! I remember waking up at the crack of dawn after Thanksgiving many years ago to shop the Black Friday sales in person with my siblings. We made it a bit of a tradition and loved shopping together for our families and for each other. Now that my brother is deployed and my sister lives in a different city, we haven’t been able to do this so for the past few years, I’ve stuck with online shopping only.
Shopping in store is thrilling but to be honest, I much prefer to do my Black Friday shopping online. The holiday season is busy and this saves time and makes for a less stressful and easier shopping experience. It’s also much simpler to prepare for ahead of time and items can be found with minimal effort. It also helps with staying within your budget if you limit yourself to the things on your list.
A couple years ago, I noticed that some brands started implementing “Cyber Week” and the following year, I noticed some sales starting even earlier (mid Nov). Last year, I saw sales starting as early as late October and this year, I feel like we’ve been seeing “early” Black Friday shopping deals since mid-October! Items sell out so in my opinion, it’s best to shop early if you are planning to get an item that is in high demand or something that might take a while to ship. I do think that most of the best sales still happen on Black Friday and Cyber Monday though so if you’re able to wait and want to take the gamble, this is what I recommend.
Outfit Details
Black Cece Houndstooth Coat c/o | Black Cece Bow Tie Dress c/o | Pink Kate Spade Handbag (similar) | Black New Bella Bow Heels c/o (similar) | Black Alexandre de Paris Floral Headband c/o (similar) | Charlotte Tilbury Lipstick | Hidden Crown Halo Hair Extension (use LIZZIEINLACE for $25 off! Currently 25% off for the holidays!)
Don’t forget to shop for yourself!
When doing you’re Black Friday shopping, don’t forget about yourself! Since this has historically been the time of the year when prices are the lowest for most retailers, I’ve always taken full advantage by planning ahead for things that I need or want. For example, if you’re in the market for new work clothes, a winter jacket, skincare products, makeup or even household items, this would be the time to buy it 😉
I hope these Black Friday Shopping tips helped! if you’re looking for gift ideas, make sure to check out all of my holiday gift guides and the holiday shop tab!
And stay tuned for my Annual Black Friday Sales Guide where you find nearly 300 stores along with their discount codes!! I will be updating all throughout cyber week so make sure to bookmark it!
Happy planning! <3
xo
