How do you prepare for Black Friday?

[bluebear]

My sister only looks at the paper ads. And makes her list Thursday afternoon. And I'm just screaming inside, saying "that sale started online last night, you could have ordered it already!!!".

 

I personally love the My Shopping List feature here on Gotta Deal. I print it, but then it's also very easy to pull up on my phone while I'm shopping. I paper clip any coupons (in an envelope) to the list, and make notes in the notes section on what coupons I have.

[Pepper_Mint_Tea]

I have my Holiday funds set aside. I set a spending budget according to what i want to buy. I wait eagerly for those beautiful paper BF adds to show up via mail/ peper at the local Walmart. Then i scan all the ads with my eyes & make a plan on what i want. I usually love to wait hrs in line and just take it all in, waiting arounds a big part of BF for me. Then i buy buy buy !!!!

Yall wanna laug lol ....

 

Read this boook while waiting for BF to take place xD

[mcwalker]

How do I prepare?

 

1. Make a list and check it three times.  Make a map of the store locations (because I am often traveling out of state to a new location many Black Fridays.)

 

2. Never enough.

[Tara3117]

Through all my years of BF shopping, I've both planned out every detail and winged it without a plan. Your success depends on:

1.) How much time and effort you have to put into it

2a.) What you're shopping for

2b.) How important it is that you find and/or save money on that item

 

If you want big ticket or hot items, then you need to plan your trip based on the deals. Prepare to wait in line before a store opens. Figure out what makes the most sense based on the stores locations, where you're going to park, how you're going to carry the items through the store (ie. Kohl's doesn't have carriages so you have to bring something to load your loot into), how you're going to pay for it, if you need coupons. 3 ring binders with a pouch for coupons is always a good bet for organization. If you're going for items that are not likely to sell out but are only on sale for a period of time, you need to obviously make sure you're there before that time is up. AC Moore usually has deals until 10am, for example, so while it's not a high priority store for me, I do need to put it higher than a store who doesn't have doorbuster savings.

 

Black Friday is the kind of thing that can drive you crazy with all the planning. If you don't have the time or energy to do the planning, you will survive. Just stick with your favorite stores, find a shopping buddy and have fun. Either way, it's all good!