Black Friday Blast!
The day after Thanksgiving is HUGE shopping day and is typically called “Black Friday”. If you subscribe to the Richmond-Times Dispatch (Sunday only subscriptions included), expect to be awoken Thanksgiving morning by a rather loud thump as the overstuffed plastic bag containing far more ads than newsprint hits the pavement. As my husband drives our family from Glen Allen to Tappahannock to Goochland, I’ll be riding along happily planning out my Black Friday Shopping trip. Below are tips for planning your own discount shopping adventure!
Tip #1
Begin today by making a list. You don’t need to know what you will be buying each recipient, but you will need to have an idea of what you wish to spend on each person. Think about immediate family, extended family, close friends, teachers, neighbors, etc. Record items you have already purchased and/or ideas you have. I usually make a list using Microsoft Excel, and it ends up looking like this:
Name Budget Gifts Purchased Ideas
John $40 night shirt ($10) saw blade
Flannel shirt
John Boy $20 writing tablets ($8) pen
Mary Ellen $20 dress
Sewing kit
Grandpa $20 socks ($3) overalls
Grandma $20 hat
Apron
Mittens
Teacher $5 chocolates
Etc.
Assuming you have cash for extra expenses, make a second list of items your household needs. You may find the best prices on Black Friday, so take advantage of the extra savings offers!
Household Needs list
New table cloth for dining room (64” oval)
Coffee maker
Digital camcorder
AA batteries
Wet/dry vac
Etc.
Tip #2
Before Thanksgiving, comparison shop. If Elizabeth really wants “Baby Must Have”, find out how much she costs at Walmart or Target. If you don’t have time to go to a couple of stores, look at prices online or just go to Walmart. When you look at ads on Thursday, you’ll be able to spot those great deals!
Tip #3
Sign-up at stores that allow you to order online and pick up items in the store. Go to www.bestbuy.com and register for this service. In the past, shoppers using this service avoided long lines and the hassle of shopping in crowded stores. Thanks Brenda M. for this tip!
Tip #4
Enjoy your Thanksgiving. When time permits, grab an ink pen (red works best) and sit down with that huge stack of new ads. Pick out an ad and lay it out flat. Scan each page, using that ink pen to boldly circle anything that interests you. Be sure to circle specific details, like: store hours, sale hours, and per item limits. Mark potential coupons with a big star, using caution to avoid marking in the barcode. Include the drugstore ads in your little scavenger hunt, you’ll find several free after rebate (or ECB) items. Match sales with coupon on hand for additional savings. (I am a visual person, so I’ll be waiting for the ads like a kid waits for presents on Christmas morning. If you can’t stand the wait, go to www.blackfriday.com for a list of offers!)
Tip #5
Recruit a shopping buddy if possible. Ask a friend or family member if she/he would like to accompany you. You can help each other make decisions and can save spots in long lines. (I hope my sister-in-law will be going with me again this year.) If one person wants to go out earlier than the other, arrange a meeting place at a certain time. (Parking lots and stores are super crowded, so I suggest meeting at someone’s house or another less crowded location.)
Tip #6
Make a Master Plan
Grab a piece of notebook paper and record ads and items that interested you. The first year a set out, I had a wad of ads and was running in circles. I missed some offers because I was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Record these details on your paper: NOTE: This chart is just an example NONE of the offers, times, page numbers etc. are based on any actual sale.
Store Sale
Best Buy – camcorder, $200 (1)
Walmart 6 AM – coffee maker, $3.97 (3)
Russell Stover, $3.97 (6)
Flannel Shirt, $8 (10)
Overalls, $14 (12)
Sewing Kit, $11 (14)
K-Mart 7 AM – 11 AM Overalls, $12 (8)
Target – Baby Must Have, $15 (8)
Sewing Kit, $10 (15)
Home Depot wet/dry vac, $30 (2)
CVS zipper bags, free after ECB (1)
Tissue paper, $.50 (4)
Mittens, $3 (12)
Office Max CD holders FAR (1)
Extension Cord FAR (1)
Universal Remote FAR (1)
Once your list is complete, select what you want most of all. If it’s the camcorder, you’ll need to be at Best Buy really early (folks campout beginning on Thursday) or hope to use the online service. Next, consider the store hours, where they are in comparison to each other and what your savings would be. Based on my hypothetical Christmas List, (if I were Olivia Walton), I would decide use this plan of action:
Travel to Short Pump and go to Best Buy, Home Depot (only if time permits), Target then Walmart. Even though I could go to K-mart to save $2 on Grandpa’s overalls, it would use up too much time. (Besides, K-Mart may not even have the overalls when I get there.) Best case scenario, the Wal-mart carries the same overalls and will match the K-mart price, if I have the ad with me! I would make time to go to Target, because Baby Must Have is an item I will definitely have to buy before December 24th and she is $5 cheaper than she has been in any ad since Elizabeth started talking about her in August! (Unless it’s a coupon offer, Walmart would match this price, if they also carry the exact same doll.)
If I’m still kicking after coming out of Walmart, I plan to go directly to CVS. Even though Office Max has free items, my family doesn’t need any of these! I’d be better off getting the items I need at CVS. If I still have time, I may pop into Office Max, but I wouldn’t count on the FAR items being there long after the doors open.
When you determine which store to go to first, use the left margin on your Master Plan to number each location. The margin from Olivia’s Master Plan (above) would now look like this:
#1 Best Buy
#4 Walmart
XX K-Mart
#3 Target
#2? Home Depot
#5 CVS
$6 Office Max
Tip #7
Get organized the night before!
- Set the alarm (and hope you don’t wake up every hour thinking you have overslept!)
- Take a shower
- Lay out clothes
- Pack a bag
- Charged cell phone
- Snacks/breakfast items (FYI. Although you got up at , and have been to 3 stores, you may be starving, but Chick Fil A can’t sell you any chicken minis because they may not even be open yet!)
- Water or soda
- Make-Up
- Ad’s, shopping list and Master Plan
- Coupons
- Cash, debit card etc.
- Old Blanket or Sheet (to keep items out of view in your vehicle and/or hide things from the kids when you get home)
Tip #8
Get up early and brush your teeth and throw some clothes on and try to make your hair look presentable (or throw on a hat). You’ll see a few Divas in line at , but you’ll also bed heads wearing pajama pants. Notice I suggested packing your make-up in the bag you’ll keep in the car, as the morning wears on, take a few minutes to apply whatever will make you feel more comfortable around the folk who slept in and missed the camcorder, and other early bird offers! Be sure to take a vehicle which will hold all of your anticipated purchases.
Tip #9
Pray. You may find yourself in many stressful situations as you shop. It’s disappointing to plan on getting “Baby Must See” only to watch the last one leave the shelf as you watch from 3 feet away. You’ll be in crowded situations and sometimes folks will get angry. Some stores will have a massive staff, others will be short-staffed. Pray for safety. Pray for guidance in making decisions over which store to go to and which to skip. Ask God to lead you to the things you need and to help you be at peace when you are not able to get something you thought you needed. Throughout the day, praise God for the things He leads you to, seek His wisdom when you don’t know what to do and ask for peace when it just doesn’t seem like things are going your way.
Tip #10
Head out to follow the Master Plan you created. Take the Master Plan, an ink pen and the ad for the store you are going into with you. For quicker shopping:
- As you enter the store, ask an associate where the item you came for is located, and save some of the searching time.
- If the store is out of stock, look at the flyer for details regarding rain checks. Some offers will be for stock-on-hand only. If not, ask for a rain check.
- Go to obscure registers (like lawn & garden) for potentially shorter lines.
- Scout out the line before you begin to shop. Kohl’s has lines that begin at the registers, go around the perimeter, and meet at the BACK of the store! If you are with a buddy, get a spot in line, then take turns shopping…believe me, you’ll have plenty of time to look at everything in the store!
Have fun! Don’t forget to stop for breakfast and/or lunch.
