One of the busiest times of the year for me as a frugal deals blogger is right now.  The time between Halloween and Christmas is so busy.  And my two busiest days of the year are Black Friday and Cyber Monday.  In fact, those days are so crazy I recruit my hubby to help me frantically post deals all day as they become available.  Last year we posted approximately 100 deals on Black Friday and Cyber Monday.  This year, we are hoping to post even more!

Do you go shopping on Black Friday?  Personally, I will not be stepping foot in any stores on Black Friday.  Instead, I will be sitting online all day Black Friday and all day Cyber Monday posting deals on Addicted to Saving for all of you.  And, besides posting the deals, my goal will be to do almost all of my Christmas shopping online as I see and post the deals!  🙂

For those of you are are planning on braving Black Friday, below are some tips to help you survive Black Friday:

1)  Determine Your Budget.

Talk to your spouse/significant other and come into agreement on the dollar amount that you can afford to spend.  Before you even look at the available deals, determine your budget and then stick to it.  There is no reason to gain more credit card debt just because you are scoring “deals”.

2) Make a List and Stick to It.

Since you now have your budget, create your list based on the amount of money you can afford to spend.  Once you create your list, stick to your list.

3)  Compare Prices.

Take a look at the Black Friday sales fliers (and don’t forget I post the highlights of most Black Friday sales HERE on Addicted to Saving).

4) Create a shopping game plan.

Decide ahead of time the stores you will be shopping at.  Map out the stores.  Pay close attention to the times each store’s sale starts.

5) Bring a friend.

Or – make a plan with a couple friends/family members and split up so that you all can take advantage of multiple deals simultaneously occurring at multiple stores.

6) Find out Return Policies and KEEP your receipts.

 7) Realize that Black Friday sales are not always good deals. 

There was one year my husband and I decided to get up early like so many of you do on Black Friday. We left the house around 4:00 a.m. and were in line at Best Buy before the doors opened.  When the doors opened, we went crazy piling junk into our cart.  Why do I say junk? Because we had NO reason to be buying all of the stuff we bought! We got caught up in the frenzy and found ourselves buying things we didn’t need.  This brings me back to my first tip – Make a List and Stick to it! 😉

8) Stay Calm, Have Fun and Be Kind.

There is no need to get in fights or to be rude just because you miss out on a sale.  Have fun and enjoy the successes you do have.  You will not score every deal so mentally prepare yourself on that. 😉

9) Consider staying home!

I will be home literally ALL DAY working (and I’m going to have hubby working too) posting as many deals as I can on Black Friday AND on Cyber Monday.  Many people assume that the internet deals are only available on Cyber Monday.  That is not the case!  Black Friday you will see hundreds of online deals that are comparable to in-store deals.  So stay tuned and get excited.  You will want to be ready to refresh Addicted to Saving’s screen multiple times throughout the day because the deals will be flying!