The holidays are here and it’s time to start planning for Christmas shopping, if you haven’t already. One of the biggest savings times of the year is the weekend after Thanksgiving and the following Monday. You guessed it! Black Friday and Cyber Monday! During this time stores lower their prices substantially. Here are a few tips to allow you to get more holiday savings on top of the sales.
Create a Shopping List
First things first, make a shopping list. This will help you determine if you’re going into the store or clicking a few buttons. Typically, you receive a better deal on smaller items on Cyber Monday and bigger items on Black Friday. Some of the more popular stores such as Walmart and Target allow you to purchase door busters online. Therefore, if you want to avoid the crowd and chaos you can simply place your order online. However, if you don’t want to wait on items to come by mail; be prepared to create a strategy for in-store purchases. Once you have your shopping list, research local ads and original prices, this allows you to determine the best deal. Then compare prices with different stores and check the store hours.
Shop Early
If you plan to do all of your shopping online, it’s best to start early for more holiday savings. Most stores will allow you to put items in your cart ahead of time. Once the sale starts, you can purchase your items. This will allow you to avoid items being out of stock. Take advantage of cashback savings! Rebate sites like Ebates and Swagbucks offers a certain percentage back on items. For example, if you purchase an item that is marked down to $120.00 from Target. Ebates may offer 5% cash back, this means you will receive $6.00 cashback from Ebates. Keep in mind, the percentage of cashback is usually higher on Thanksgiving weekend and Cyber Monday.
Look at Prior Sales
Research previous ads. In most cases stores repeat sales each year. If you didn’t get in line early enough to purchase that 65 inch flat screen last year, it’s almost guaranteed to be on sale this year. Maybe at a lower price! Also, it doesn’t hurt to be knowledgeable of store policies. This is just a precaution in case you need to return an item.
Google Search
Lastly, Google is a good place to start to review ads, check rebate sites and store hours. One of the Black Friday ad sites I’ve used is: https://blackfriday.com/ads/black-friday. You can also visit store websites, usually ads are available the weekend before Thanksgiving.
The main thing to remember is budget, list, research, and strategize. Happy Holiday Savings!
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