If you shop on Black Friday out of family tradition more than need, skip the shopping trip and spend the day on something free. Online discounts run deepest from Thanksgiving through Cyber Monday, so set price alerts for the one or two things you need and buy from home when a price drops.
A discount on something nobody on your list needed doesn’t save you money, however early you got up for it.
Skipping the stores costs little, because you can get the weekend’s discounts online. Adobe, which tracks U.S. online sales, forecasts discounts of up to 30% off listed prices during Cyber Week, the five days from Thanksgiving through Cyber Monday.
At some stores, buying early doesn’t cost you the sale price. Target’s Holiday Price Match Guarantee, which runs Nov. 1 through Dec. 24, matches Target’s own price if it drops after you buy. So if a gift you already bought there costs less on Black Friday, ask for a price adjustment and get the difference back. Have your receipt ready.
Then fill the day with something free. REI closes all its stores on Black Friday and invites everyone to spend the day outside, and Minnesota and Colorado both waive state park entry fees that day. A volunteer shift at a food bank or a movie marathon at home costs nothing too.
For the one or two things you do need, set a price alert instead of an alarm clock. On Google Shopping, sign in, turn on Track price for each item, and pick a target price. Google emails you when the price falls below it.
One family trades its 5 a.m. store run for a sunrise hike, sets an alert for the one gift on its list, and buys it from home on Cyber Monday when the alert arrives.
Set each alert at the most you’d pay for that item, and buy the day the alert comes.
Start with the gift you’re surest of, and track it on Google Shopping.
Subscribe and we'll send you 101 Essential Money Tips to get you started.
The 101 money moves that matter most, from the foundations to protecting what you’ve built.
Advertiser Disclosure: Many or all of the offers that appear on this site are from companies that compensate us, and some companies pay for sponsored content. That compensation may influence which products we cover and where and how they appear on a page, including the order in which they appear. We do not include every company or offer available in the marketplace.
