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Budgeting for Black Friday - something to start thinking about now

budgetsRsexy

By budgetsRsexy
in 2017

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tracy0504

tracy0504

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Lol, my husband is pretty much cash only; every day he empties his pants and tosses it. Every so often I empty out wallets and vehicles. At least once a week we sort it by coin type in individual jars. The jars are in our bedroom. We used to save change for specific things; brought our first Wii when they were released with change. Now we go from year to year and use it strictly for Christmas shopping.

 

We've made a game of it and try to beat each years amount the following year; we easily have over $150 in quarters already. I also wrap as I go along because it needs to be wrapped for our credit union to accept it. This way we pay no fees using coinstar or anything.

That is awesome!!!! Maybe I will give it a try for next year...

 

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tracy0504

tracy0504

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I save all year with Swagbucks,Shopkick, and saving catcher.i can usually get a pretty good chunk done with those

 

 

I love Shopkicks...I started using it last year...unfortunately, I only take advantage of the kicks for walking in certain stores because I usually don't have the time or energy to scan items for more kicks...my goal was to try to earn enough to get a $100 Walmart GC, but that is not happening w/o doing scans...

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ytmomof4

ytmomof4

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I love Shopkicks...I started using it last year...unfortunately, I only take advantage of the kicks for walking in certain stores because I usually don't have the time or energy to scan items for more kicks...my goal was to try to earn enough to get a $100 Walmart GC, but that is not happening w/o doing scans...

 

 

The scanning is time consuming and irritating if they don't even have the item.Unfortunatly I don't get a ton of walk in kicks but since I have been using Shopkick I have got $100 in Walmart cards it takes along time to accumulate enough.

 

Swagbucks is much better if you want to try it out send me a pm and I will send you a link

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  • 3 weeks later...
shopping4my3son

shopping4my3son

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I started following this in January but in reverse. So far so good. Made a budget with the amount to spen on each person we buy for so this should cover it. Just need to stick with it and not over spend.

 

 

 

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Edited by shopping4my3son
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julz0420

julz0420

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Always run into stuff I dont plan for. Last minute must have gifts and stuff. LOL

 

For BF we have hubbys month commission check the week before Thanskgiving, yearly bonus also that week, plus paychecks and that's more than enough to get what I'm looking for and more lol. I also will use cards that offer good rewards on BF.

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Elmck

Elmck

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My budgeting has been lousy this year for some reason. It seems like we have had some major financial needs the last few months. I'm hoping I can save enough to cover what I would normally do. If not I will have to cut back. I have already decided not to do stockings for the grandkids ( their parents do them too) so its not really a need. i just need to really buckle down the next few months.

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len_mullen

len_mullen

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I feel like an overwhelming theme for the people in my life has been that they wish they had saved more for the holidays. Some didn't start early enough so their finances took a big hit in December (or January when the credit card bills came due) and others couldn't manage to follow their budget. Personally I underestimated how many events we would attend and the cost for bringing dishes to pass and/or hostess gifts. I'm going to rework my budget now that I can review all my receipts and credit card bill.

 

What about you?

 

Do you wish you had started saving sooner? Did you run into holiday expenses you forgot to budget for? Are you going to do anything differently or does your system still work for you (in which case please share!)?

 

I think a mistake that people make is saving for specific things.  When I was young, I used to 'pay myself first'.  If there was money left at the end of the month, I rewarded myself for being frugal.  When i got a little older, I started 'direct depositing' my paycheck and using a credit card to buy things.  I found that the balance on the account was its own reward and started accumulating savings faster.  In fact, I believe this encouraged me to spend money more carefully.  As a bonus, my 'best practice' of splitting raises and bonuses with my savings account went away.  I became very familiar with my expenses and cost of living which helped a lot in determining what we could afford to pay for a home and whether my wife could be a stay at home mom.

 

Similarly, budgeting for the holiday season starts with a list of people.  Then I assign a budget for each gift, select gifts, then shop.  If I get a gift at a discount, that money remains in savings.  I do, however, buy stuff at the end of the season -- purchases of opportunity -- if the item is sufficiently desired and discounted...especially for my oldest whose birthday in in February.

 

Happy shopping!

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BFAddict716

BFAddict716

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I am not the best at budgeting however I have a few ways I save for Black Friday and holiday shopping that work well for me.

 

First of all anytime that I get a gift card throughout the year rather be for returning merchandise or as a bonus for a purchase or even through a work promotion I put it in an envelope and keep them all for holiday shopping.

 

I also do a lot of cash back sites such as Ibotta and savingstar and then on November 1st of every year I pull that money out and use it for holiday shopping. I also consign my stepsons clothes twice a year and the fall Consignment check always goes straight into the holiday savings.

 

Also starting September 1st any cash that I get I add to my envelope. I'm usually able to cover the majority of my holiday expenses with these. Although I do pick up gifts throughout the year when I see them on clearance or for a great deal so at this point I do already have a small dent in my shopping without using any of my holiday spending money.

 

Sent from my SM-G930P using GottaDEAL mobile app

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  • 5 weeks later...
jendeere

jendeere

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Lol, my husband is pretty much cash only; every day he empties his pants and tosses it. Every so often I empty out wallets and vehicles. At least once a week we sort it by coin type in individual jars. The jars are in our bedroom. We used to save change for specific things; brought our first Wii when they were released with change. Now we go from year to year and use it strictly for Christmas shopping.

 

We've made a game of it and try to beat each years amount the following year; we easily have over $150 in quarters already. I also wrap as I go along because it needs to be wrapped for our credit union to accept it. This way we pay no fees using coinstar or anything.

 

We do something similar.  We save change all year and then go to coinstar a week or 2 before BF.  We cash in for Amazon gift cards since there is no fee. 

 

I always have big plans to make a budget for Christmas shopping but I've never managed to stick with it lol.  Maybe this year! 

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Sassoon17

Sassoon17

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I just bought a house so my budgeting is way off! However, I have set some money aside and have already started Christmas shopping. Last year, I was proud of how I was able to curb my BF impulse buying and, with the new house, I hope to stay on track again this year. 

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chester5

chester5

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Two things that I do that definitely help with Black Friday and Christmas shopping in general are:

 

  1. I save my $5 bills.  If I get one, I put it aside.  Over a 12 month period I save about $500 this way.
  2. Whenever I get a free gift card with purchase (Target, for example) or a rebate from Menards, I save them.  This again gives me a couple of hundred dollars.

 

Hope this helps someone!

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tracy0504

tracy0504

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Two things that I do that definitely help with Black Friday and Christmas shopping in general are:

 

  • I save my $5 bills. If I get one, I put it aside. Over a 12 month period I save about $500 this way.
  • Whenever I get a free gift card with purchase (Target, for example) or a rebate from Menards, I save them. This again gives me a couple of hundred dollars.

Hope this helps someone!

Saving $5 bills is a great idea...never thought of doing that before...

 

Sent from my SM-G930V using GottaDEAL mobile app

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speeddiva

speeddiva

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Two things that I do that definitely help with Black Friday and Christmas shopping in general are:

 

  • I save my $5 bills. If I get one, I put it aside. Over a 12 month period I save about $500 this way.
  • Whenever I get a free gift card with purchase (Target, for example) or a rebate from Menards, I save them. This again gives me a couple of hundred dollars.

Hope this helps someone!

I did the $5 thing one year. I had about $400 by BF. Its an easy saving plan.

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Angelus

Angelus

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Just like last year, gift cards will be my saving grace for Black Friday this year. I have over $300 in gift cards to use. Once those ads leak, I'll have an idea where I want to use my cards at . Last year I went to Target, bought a 50 inch 4K tv, a PS4 controller, a vacuum cleaner and crook pot and my bill came to $540.17. Minus my gift cards, I paid $132.72. Went to Best Buy bought a PS4 bundle, came to $264.99 minus my gift cards, I only paid $14.99 for a PS4 and 3 games!!! Even the BB employee who checked my bag said that I made out good. What a rush that was.
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nhughes

nhughes

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Now not sure if this is a bad idea or if anyone else thinks like me...I like saving up the gift cards idea and think Ill start doing that now.  Now I see Target has a promotion going on right now if you spend $250 on baby stuff, you get $50 back. Now for most of us, that is a hefty price tag (they have $20 with $100) wonder if you sell the stuff online, like ebay? That way you arent losing anything. Anyone think like this?

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budgetsRsexy

budgetsRsexy

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The good news is my dog is okay. The bad news is that the unexpected pricey vet bill is going to eat into my holiday budget (I figured it was better to take the hit in my shopping budget rather than put it on my credit card and pay interest). I think I should be able to still manage for the holidays but getting good deals is going to be even more important now.

I hope everyone's savings are coming along nicely!

 

 

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Giraffe34

Giraffe34

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I have some gift cards and rewards money that I will use toward BF.  I also started saving the mountains of loose change we seem to always have around the house. I also put away some money the other day. I started saving late, but that's better than nothing at all I guess. I also think the putting away the $5 is a great idea!  Wish I had known about that at the beginning of the year.

Edited by Giraffe34
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