The holidays are upon us, but don’t let the expense frighten you, with a little bit of planning and a few tips you’ll ready this year.
Embrace Black Friday
Yes, Black Friday is an overcrowded crazy time to shop, but great deals are everywhere. Planning is crucial, and creating a game plan with family and friends can help you snatch the best buys. Comb through the newspaper ads thoroughly and split up. Later, meet up with your loved ones for breakfast to have fun reminiscing about the great deals you bagged.
Another Black Friday strategy is to stock up on discount items for your gifts. For example, Bath and Body Works generally offers a holiday bag filled with their new products. After meeting a minimum spending limit, you can buy one or more and split it up for your gifts this year.
Avoid Black Friday
For those of you who just can’t face the insane number of deal hungry shoppers, the internet is another great place to locate amazing holiday deals. You may still need to set the alarm for 4 a.m. on Black Friday, but instead you’ll be warming up the laptop, not your car. Often, stores such as Old Navy, Costco and Office Max offer online discounts of up to 30 percent. Additionally, if you’re in the market for computer merchandise, then companies such as Dell and Hewlett Packer offer great deals this time of year.
Many companies offer reduced or free shipping saving you the hassle of dealing with the holiday crowd. Other online discounts are coupons in the form of a dollar amount. For example, you may receive $40 off of orders of $100 or more with free shipping on orders of at least $75.
In fact, this year approximately 93 percent of online merchants have reported that they will be offering free shipping at some point during the holiday season. However, if you plan to shop online, then remember that Cyber Monday occurs just three days after Black Friday and you may find the best online deals that day.
Keep Your Smartphone Handy
After you’ve decided that a deal is too good to miss, make sure that you check the prices of any other items you pick up. Often, a store will have one product for sale, but prices on other items are priced higher there than at other stores. Before purchasing any other item, be sure to use your smartphone to check the cost at other locations.
Prepare yourself now for holiday shopping with these tips, and when you include a little preparation, you can buy great gifts for everyone on your list and not empty your wallet.
David Spader looks at savings accounts over at SavingsAccount.Org. His recent review looked at the best CD rates.
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