How to Shop Like a Pro on Black Friday
The only thing you can love more than shopping is probably shopping on a sale. Even if you’re not a fan, as the holiday season approaches, you’ll get many reasons to change your mind and prepare the presents for your family and friends. Make a list of all things that will surprise them and show how much you care. But, since you probably care about your wallet too, the good idea is to try to keep it happy and full. 
The solution lies in the most important holiday for all shopaholics – the Black Friday. Along with the Thanksgiving Day, it announces the Christmas season, the happiest time of the year, filled with love, joy, and giving. Since many people are waiting eagerly for this day to come, you’ll have to prepare yourself too and make a proper plan for your shopping adventure.
Create a shopping list
If you know what you’re looking for, you’ll decrease chances to buy something you don’t really need, just because it’s on a sale. In order to prevent that kind of mindlessness, write down a list of all people you want to buy a gift for, the ideas for their presents and the approximate amount of money you want to spend on each person and try to stick to that list. But, the bargain time is also the perfect time to buy some things you know you’re going to need in the near future, for a much lower price.
Thinking in advance is a smart move, so you should invest in the “big stuff”, such as all kinds of expensive electronics and appliances for your house, a fairytale wedding dress or astonishing bridal jewelry if you’re a bride-to-be, or the perfect room decoration for your newborn, if you’re a mom-to-be. This way, you’ll save your money and reduce the stress when the important day comes.
Do your homework
Before the Black Friday comes, if you want to gain the best savings, you should research the products you want to buy and compare discounts, not only in different stores but with the original price. Browse the ads, sales catalogs and specialized websites that will lead you through this task. Follow retailers on social networks, sign up on their newsletters to find out on time which offers they’ll make and get additional discounts. 
If you don’t have enough time, use the app, such as the Shop Savvy that will help you by listing a product’s price in different stores after a simple bar code scan.
The bargain of the year
Customers aren’t the only ones preparing for the Black Friday – retailers do it too, maybe even more. It starts with advertising weeks before Thanksgiving Day and sometimes exaggerating with discounts, so you should be very careful if you want to find the right deal. Use some of the apps that will check the history of changing prices, like the Camel Camel Camel does for Amazon’s offers, and find out is the new price really the smallest one during the year and you can use the Amazon Sales Estimator to find the best prices.
If it’s not, that isn’t a good deal and you should wait some more for a lower price. In order to save money, use all possible trumps, like promo codes, coupons, discount gift-cards or even a little trick: fill out your virtual shopping list on a store’s website and log out. In many cases, this may activate automated sending of the coupon which will offer you an extra discount or free shipping.
Online and offline shopping
If you want to avoid squeezing in-crowd and purchase while you’re in PJ’s, then online shopping is the perfect choice for you. This way you can save even more money with special deals and avoid the temptation of buying items that aren’t on your list. But still, if you prefer the thrill and the shopping fever in the real stores, don’t forget the Cyber Monday, the holiday of online shopping, when the free shipping is guaranteed. 
If you decide to shop in real stores, it’s better to shop alone or with one or two friends. Shopping in a group bigger than that may cause distraction and make you lose sight of the plan. Or, if you want to get the best out of the bargains and do it quickly, you can organize your closest people into the groups that will buy all needed items in different stores.
Author BIO:
Sophia Smith is an Australian based beauty and fashion and lifestyle blogger. She is very passionate about the latest fashion trends, DIY projects, and organic beauty makeup. Sophia writes mostly in beauty and fashion related topics, mainly through blogs and articles. She is a regular contributor at High Style Life.
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