Wait, we’re just barely into November and still in the thick of the U.S. presidential election, so how can I possibly be talking about Black Friday deals already?
Well, because the month is going to fly by, and before you know it, Christmas will be here and you’ll be scrambling for gift ideas! Seriously. If you plan ahead, you’ll have more time during the holidays to actually relax and enjoy them. And it all starts with Black Friday shopping in November.
Saving money is all about being organized and thinking ahead. Black Friday is a perfect example. Most of us are completely exhausted after all of the busy activities of Thanksgiving and still have dirty dishes in the sink the next day, but the organized shopper wakes up early the next morning, ready to hit the stores and grab the bargains (physically or virtually). Black Friday is the day after Thanksgiving, and it marks the beginning of the traditional Christmas shopping season in the United States.
The term dates back to at least 1966. “Black Friday” originated in Philadelphia in reference to the heavy traffic on that day. More recently, the media have used it instead to refer to the beginning of the period in which retailers go from being in the red (posting a loss on the books) to being in the black (turning a profit). In many cities, it is not uncommon to see shoppers lined up for hours outside stores with big sales before they open. Have you done that? Once inside the stores, shoppers rush around and snatch up what they can, as many stores have only a few of the big-draw items in stock. On occasion, some shoppers are so overly enthusiastic about the savings that injuries and even fatalities have been reported. No savings is worth that!
This year, in hopes of surviving the rough economy, some stores have started their Black Friday sales already! A really great website to use to find out what’s going on sale is Slickdeals. In fact, they’ve already tagged a bunch of merchandise on sale at Amazon. I took a peek and saw stuff that would make great gifts up to 77% off, such as the Blue-ray version of many MOVIES! Yay!
Now, having said all of that, the best gifts are those which come from the heart, and not the shopping mall. In a tight economy, we should never go into debt just to purchase gifts. There are plenty of inexpensive, yet meaningful gifts we can give to our loved ones without breaking the bank. Remember, spending quality time with others is priceless!
Many retailers allow discount code websites to “leak” their sales information several days before Black Friday. If you love to shop at a particular store, do a Google search with the name of that store, plus the words “Black Friday” and you might get to find out what steals and deals they’ll be featuring after Turkey Day! Target and Wal-Mart have already released some sneak peek info about nice discounts on their flagship door-buster electronic items. BJ’s Wholesale Club, Harbor Freight, and Ace Hardware have also already released their Black Friday catalogs.
While the best deals are usually found in the wee hours of the morning when the stores first open, most retailers this year are planning on extending their bargains through the Thanksgiving weekend to encourage more consumers to spend their dollars and kick-start the Christmas shopping season. Do a web search with your city’s name, plus the words “Black Friday”, and you’ll find some store listings with their special hours.
One of the great advantages of shopping online is that you can ship directly to your gift recipient, saving you hours of packaging presents, driving in crazy traffic to the post office, and standing in long lines during the busy holiday season! Some stores will even allow you to “double-dip”, which means you can stack discounts. Before you purchase anything online, remember to do an online search of the name of the store you’re interested in buying from, along with the words “discount code” and you’ll be pointed towards sites that give you special codes to use in the shopping cart to save even more money!
So, let me first start with some special Black Friday deals by T-Mobil. Because I’ve been a happy customer of T-Mobil for many years, I can confidently recommend them for your cell phone usage. One of the best things I love about their service is that they don’t charge for texts and data use when I’m traveling abroad. As you know, I LOVE to travel and, of course, I take my cell phone with me. Well, that is until Covid-19 happened and my 3 big overseas trips were canceled this year. When I travel abroad with friends, I see them scramble to figure out their cell phone company’s policies and fees for overseas usage and they always pay more than I do. I mean, you can’t get cheaper than free and their coverage is super impressive.
Another thing I love about T-Mobile is their “T-Mobile Tuesdays” where you can get all kinds of freebies just for being their customer. Sometimes they hand out free swag and other times you get coupons and other discounts for restaurants and other vendors like REDBOX where you can rent free MOVIES! Yay movies!
That’s just one more way I’m trying to help you save money on movies! By the way, how often do you watch movies on your cell phone? Comment below because I’m dying of curiosity!
If you want my free report on how to watch movies for free, just drop me a note!
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