I’m not a big shopper. Never have been, never will be.
However, I do love scoring a great bargain, which is why I do some shopping on Black Friday. However, I always remind myself that even the best deal isn’t a deal if I’m buying something I don’t need.
If you want to snag some great Black Friday deals, but you want to be mindful of your money (and your spending), trying using these strategies.
Make a List of What You Need
Notice I didn’t say, make a list of what you “want.” There are lots of things you might want looking through the Black Friday ads. You might want the electric blanket that will keep you toasty all night long, but do you really need it? Your son might want the latest gizmo toy, but does he already have so many toys that he doesn’t have room to put them all away? Move on.
Make a list of things that you truly need. Last year, my husband and I noticed that our kitchen pots and pans were getting scraped up at the bottom and the non-stick coating was coming off. We bought a set from Kohl’s on Black Friday, and after the sale and rebate, we got the pans for less than 50% of the retail price. I was also tempted by the deal on a Kitchen Aid mixer, but I didn’t need the Kitchen Aid mixer, I just wanted it, so I passed that deal up.
Think Beyond Toys and Electronics
Many people think of toys and electronics when they think of Black Friday deals, but expand your horizons. If you need new towels because yours are ragged, Black Friday is the perfect time to look. Look around your house at anything you think you may need to replace in the next year and consider taking advantage of the Black Friday sales.
Shop Online
Thanks to the Internet, there’s no need to go shopping on Thanksgiving to score the deals or to fight with the hordes of people flocking to the store. Most of the time, the stores only stock a limited supply of an item that will likely be sold out before you get to the right aisle.
Shop online from the comfort of your home, and you’ll find almost everything you want in stock. Better yet, many retailers offer free shipping, so it can be delivered right to your door.
Capture Additional Savings
If you’re shopping online, make sure to take advantage of additional savings. Use a site like Ebates to get cash back for some of your purchases. You can also shop online codes to get free shipping if the store doesn’t already offer it.
Learn When the Sale Starts
Now that Black Friday sales are so popular, retails are trying to extend the Black Friday shopping season. First, they began opening their stores late on Thanksgiving night. Last year, many retailers offered their Black Friday sales online during the entire week of Thanksgiving. I think we scored our pots and pan deal on Monday, four days before Black Friday.
Find a deal blogger to follow, if you don’t already, to get the latest scoop on when the sales will start.
Use these tips to score the best Black Friday deals, keep your budget intact, and enjoy your time with family on Thanksgiving.
Do you shop on Black Friday? What other tips would you add to this list?
While the marketers would like us to think that Halloween should cost a fortune, it doesn’t have to. On average, Americans in 2013 planned to spend $75.03 on Halloween candy and costumes. (My guess is those with more than two children will spend significantly more than this, especially if they choose to buy costumes.)
If you use some creativity and resourcefulness, you and your kids can have a fun Halloween without spending a fortune. Here’s a way to have a ghoulish Halloween without frightening your wallet.
If you have dress up clothes, those are fair game for a Halloween costume. Another idea is to use your child’s clothing from extracurricular activities. Does your son have a little league uniform? Great, he can be a baseball player. Does your daughter take dance classes? She can be a ballerina. Does your child have a pair of skeleton pajamas? They could easily double for her Halloween costume.
Marketers want us to think that a child should be able to pick any costume he or she would like for Halloween. However, you can limit this to whatever type of costume the child can find around the house.
Create your own costume.
With a little creativity (and maybe some face paint), you can likely find a good costume with things you already have around the house. An old white sheet makes for a great ghost costume and your child’s clothes along with face paint can help create an adorable hobo. With the help of Pinterest, you’ll find plenty of costume ideas you can make at little to no cost using items around the house.
Have a costume swap.
If you have old costumes that the kids have outgrown or no longer want, why not get together a few of your friends and have a costume swap. You may leave with a new-to-him costume for your child, and you will have decluttered your home of a few costumes you’ll never use again in the process.
Save on Candy
Reuse candy.
Now, before you get upset with the wording “reuse candy” hear me out. Buy a bag or two of candy to give to the trick or treaters. If you have young children, take them early in the night. When you get home, go through the candy that your kids don’t like. (As a kid, I hated any candy bars that had nuts in them.) This candy will likely go in your own mouth if the kids won’t eat it. Instead, put it in your candy bowl and give it to the trick or treaters at your door.
Turn off the light when the candy is out.
I know some people who live in subdivisions popular with trick or treaters. These people will buy five, six, seven bags of candy. That adds up fast! Instead, buy whatever amount of candy your budget allows. When you run out, turn off the outside light, turn off the lights in the front of the house, and go settle in to watch a movie or read a good book in the back of the house. Don’t feel pressured to buy more candy than you comfortably can financially.
What are your favorite tricks to save on Halloween?
My husband and I recently bought a house, and we’d like to plump up our emergency fund just in case we have a large house expense. (Because, of course, when you have little savings, expensive things start to break. It’s the law of nature, right?)
To inspire myself, I reread America’s Cheapest Family Gets You Right on the Money by Steve and Annette Economides. One strategy of theirs that I latched onto is once a month shopping. The Economides shop once a month for their family of seven and right after shopping day, they make 15 to 17 freezer meals to help them on nights when they’re too busy to cook.
Alright, I already regularly cook freezer meals, so how hard could it be to shop once a month for my family of five?
As it turns out, very tough, at least the first month.
Breaking Bad Habits
I have a bad habit of making a big shopping trip on the weekend and then running to the store for this or that several times a week.
Do you do this, too? From all of the harried shoppers I see at the store at 5 p.m., I’m guessing I’m not alone.
The problem is that each time I run to the store, I buy more items than I initially went to the store to buy. The Economides recommend once a month shopping to avoid this kind of impulse buying that blows up the grocery budget.
Making the Big Shopping Trip
This month, eager to change my bad shopping habit, I scouted the deals and made my big, once a month shopping trip. I spent two days afterward cooking up meals to put in the freezer. I was set, or so I thought.
Turns out, limiting the impulse to stop by the store is more difficult than I thought.
There are a number of reasons why we’re struggling:
My husband likes fresh fruit and veggies. Our family wiped these out after a week, so back I went to the store to pick up some more.
I’m an impulse eater. If something sounds good to me, I want to make the recipe and have it for dinner. I don’t want to wait until my next monthly shopping trip to get the ingredients to make it. (The whim would have passed by then, which is the point, I guess.)
Eating up odds and ends at the end of the month is not fun. Sure, trying to make meals out of what food is left is fun, but the last few days, most of it doesn’t taste good.
Taking Baby Steps Moving Forward
While it would be easy to give up on the idea of once a month shopping, I haven’t yet because I know it can be a big money saver. Instead, I’m going to back up and move to twice a month shopping. This will allow me time to plan out our meals for two weeks, making sure we have all the ingredients we need. Many fruits and veggies stay good for nearly two weeks, so my husband will have the fresh fruits and veggies that he wants.
I don’t know if I’ll ever fully implement once a month shopping, but if I am successful with twice a month shopping, I will still significantly reduce my impulse shopping trips and improve my grocery budget.
How often do you grocery shop? Are you a multiple trip, impulse buyer like I am (was?), or are you a grocery store ninja?
