Top Money-Saving Tips for Black Friday Shopping

Shopping this holiday season can be affordable with these Black Friday money saving tips

How You Can Maximize Your Black Friday Savings this Holiday Season

It’s no secret that the holiday shopping season can be one of the most stressful times of the year—but it doesn’t have to be! Seasoned shoppers know you have to create a holiday budget and plan wisely as your first move toward Black Friday savings. By applying the following tips and guidance to your plan of action, you can maximize your savings and eliminate the common stresses and dangers of the holiday shopping season.   

Are you looking for some extra funds to cover holiday expenses? If so, consider the benefits of a short-term cash loan from LendNation. We offer a variety of loans for borrowers in several states, including payday loans, title loans, installment loans, and lines of credit. Once you finish reading our Black Friday shopping tips, contact us today to learn about the services we may offer in your state. To get started, simply create an account right now. Once approved, loans are typically funded within 30 minutes! 

 

Smart Holiday Shopping Tips to Try this Black Friday

Your first step is simple: make a list of the people you want to purchase gifts for this year. Then, set an overall budget, which will be the maximum you will spend in total. From there, make a list of the gifts you want to buy for each person. 

With your first draft, think of it like a wish list. Once you are finished, take a realistic look at the costs. Don’t forget that holidays typically include other expenses, such as food, travel, and other items or events that are unique to your situation. 

Once you reduce your list to a manageable amount of gifts at a cost you can afford, it’s time to start researching the items on your list. 

Here are some quick Black Friday shopping tips: 

  1. Do items on your list sell out quickly, or is inventory ever an issue? 
  2. Can you find this item online, in-store, or both? 
  3. Can you find discount codes or pre-Black Friday deals? 
  4. Can you use payment options, such as 0% interest deals on some items? 
  5. For technology-based items, review Cyber Monday deals too! 

Let’s dive deeper and discuss some other money saving tips to consider… 

 

Avoid Inventory Shortages by Shopping Early

Everyone seems to have a story of the time they waited too long to purchase a popular item. Whether you want the newest video game console, iPhone, or other hot item, sometimes it pays to buy it early, even if you don’t get the best deal. Sometimes, the prices of these high-demand items don’t move very much in the lead-up to the holidays. Other times, you might find a pre-order opportunity that guarantees you get your hands on it. 

Take Advantage of Online-Only Deals

One of the best ways to stay sane—and safe—during the holidays is to just stay home. Why put wear and tear on your car, wait in long lines, and risk encountering bah-humbug shoppers if you don’t have to? Many businesses offer online-only deals, giving shoppers the best of both worlds: lower prices and greater convenience. 

Plus, spending an hour researching and comparing options online is more efficient than driving to a store and risking paying more. On the flip side, if you find a good deal online for an item you can’t wait for, many stores will match online pricing if you can show proof of the lower price from their competitor. 

Use Coupons, Discount Codes and Cashback Offers

This Black Friday shopping strategy requires a few different approaches that can result in huge savings. After you make your list, it’s time to search for coupons and discount codes. Sometimes, the best discounts come when you order straight from the manufacturer or business. For example, it’s common to receive 10-15% off your first order when you sign up for an email newsletter. Or maybe a well-known influencer who promotes the product has their own unique coupon code. This is where a combination of online searching and social media sleuthing comes into play. 

Cashback offers from credit cards can also be a good way to find Black Friday savings. If you qualify for a credit card that offers 0% interest for 6 months, maybe that would be a good way to reduce the up-front costs of holiday shopping. This approach can allow you to avoid dipping into savings while avoiding high-interest charges. A short-term loan from LendNation might be the best fit to fund your holiday budget! 

Black Friday Holiday Shopping Safety Tips

Whether you shop in-store or online, it’s important to consider safety. Unfortunately, the holiday season doesn’t always bring out the best in others. This is a prime time of the year for online scammers, porch pirates, and retail thieves who want to take advantage of others. 

Online shopping safety tips 

  1. Purchase from reputable online sources. If a deal seems too good to be true, hit pause on that purchase! Do a quick search to see if anyone else has had a bad experience with the site you’re ordering from. This is the risk of purchasing from a third party, except for platforms like Amazon, Wal-Mart, and other well-known companies. 
  2. Track your deliveries. Make sure you are home when your products are scheduled to arrive. This can eliminate the threat of porch thieves. If you can’t be home, consider shipping items to your workplace—be sure to get approval from your boss first! 
  3. Only use secure sites. Here’s a rule of thumb: if a site is secure, the URL will begin with “https” instead of “http”. And never save your credit card information if you can avoid it! 

If you want to learn more about safe holiday money saving tips, check out this helpful article in our blog resource section that covers a wide variety of important financial topics! 

Shop Smart to Save Big This Holiday Season

As you can see, all it takes is a little bit of planning to avoid the stress of Black Friday shopping and get the best deals on holiday gifts! To learn more financial tips and strategies to get out of debt and get your finances on track this year, browse our library of blogs to explore the topics that are relevant to your situation. 

Do you want to talk to LendNation about a short-term cash loan that can help you make it through the holiday season? Don’t wait any longer to create your account and talk to us about options for borrowers in your state.  

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