Shop Wisely On Black Friday
6 ways to get and stay on track
by Ellie Kay
Here are some tips to help your Christmas stay focused and on budget:
Determine a game plan. The day after Thanksgiving is the biggest shopping day of the year, and it comes complete with loads of loss-leaders that are designed to lure you into the store. Get your holiday ads on that Thursday, and mark down all the sales you want to take advantage of. Map out a timeframe, deciding when to hit the stores that open first and the stores that open later. If you take a shopping buddy with you, one can run for the discounted digital cameras while the other loads up on portable DVD players. Be sure to stick to your list and not give in to impulse buying, and you’ll come out strategically ahead of the average holiday shopper!
Document your purchases. There’s nothing like buying Christmas paper to wrap those presents early, only to discover a month later that you have tons of paper you bought at the end-of-season clearance last year and forgot about. Or you get a good deal on gifts for teachers and then realize that you bought them earlier in the year and forgot where you put them. Write down your purchases—and where you stashed them—on a piece of paper, and tape the list to next year’s December calendar page.
Do it yourself. By preparing homemade goods, such as jams and jellies when the fruit is in season, you can save a lot of money. Present your yummy gifts in interesting baskets, boxes, tins or other containers you’ve found at garage sales or on clearance shelves.
Decorate early. If you decorate the day after Thanksgiving, you’ll save money. By organizing all the Christmas decorations, you’ll discover which items you need and which ones you don’t need. Then you can look for those lights that are on sale to replace the ones that didn’t survive the year. Also, you won’t duplicate items that you bought on clearance the previous year. With your home decorated so festively, you’ll be less inclined to impulse-buy holiday decorations.
Designate as you decorate. Wrap each gift as you get it. Don’t forget to label for whom each gift is intended. You may want to keep a master list of the gifts, listing the contents and numbering them as you buy them. That way, you won’t duplicate gifts or overbuy for any one person.
Desperate no more. One last idea is to give an anonymous gift of money to someone who desperately needs it. You could write a check to your local church or chapel and ask them to pass the money along to the family, or you could buy a money order to mail to the family. Although you might include a card or message, don’t sign it. There seems to be a greater blessing when you give in secret.
Ellie Kay is America’s Family Financial Expert™, the author of 10 books, a national radio commentator for “Money Matters” and a regular guest on CNBC’s “Power Lunch.” Her best-selling book Heroes at Home: Help & Hope for America’s Military Families (www.elliekay.com) was a Gold Medallion Book Award finalist. She is the mother of seven children and the wife of a test pilot.