It’s absolutely wild to say, but today is Thanksgiving! How did that happen?
It seems like the past few months have absolutely flown by, and I am shocked that we’re here already. I just wanted to take some time to say thank you to anyone who is taking the time to read my little blog. I am so excited to see what the future holds for Belle In Full Bloom, and what future it has is all thanks to your kindness and support. This project has allowed me to grow in several different aspects, both personally and professionally. My creativity levels have been through the roof lately, and I truly believe that’s as a result of this blog.
From the bottom of my heart, thank you. Happy Thanksgiving if you’re from the United States. Go eat enough turkey and mashed potatoes and stuffing to feed a medium-sized yeti. Sending so much love.
Right, anyways. Enough with the sappiness. Let’s get into it.
You know what Thanksgiving means. Yes, turkey. Absolutely, your weird third cousin twice removed will probably say something out-of-pocket in front of your family. Of course, someone will have one beer too many. However, I am not talking about these things. I’m talking about Black Friday.
Black Friday is the most chaotic, highly-anticipated, psychotically crowded shopping day of the year.
You’ve probably been seeing advertisements for the deals being offered since Halloween. You might even be planning on buying something. If you’re like my family, you love a good deal, so you might even feel like you should buy something. It’s hard to resist when your favorite store is offering some crazy good promotion. Black Friday marketing has been working for years, and it’s going to continue to work because people will never stop falling for it.
Thousands of people are going to get up at the crack of dawn and venture out of their house this Friday to buy something they can’t afford. I’m not here to shame them whatsoever, but I would love to bring awareness to the issue.
You didn’t ask, but I’m giving them to you anyway. Here are a few of my favorite tips for not breaking the bank on Black Friday.
If you weren’t going to buy it in the first place, it’s not a deal.
Spending money on something that you don’t need, or something you weren’t planning on getting from the get-go, means spending money unnecessarily. For instance, I love the clothing store Madewell. For Black Friday, Madewell is offering 40% off on all purchases. If I came across a pair of jeans that I liked and spontaneously decided to buy them because of their sale price, I really am not receiving a deal. Why? Well, I have plenty of jeans, and I wasn’t originally planning on buying them. Had I not been convinced by the deal, I would have spent no money at all.
Check the prices on the things you are buying, just to be sure.
When you are making purchases at stores such as Target, Walmart, or Amazon, always check the prices of your item on a competitor’s site. Sometimes, one of them will be offering the product for much cheaper. Not to mention, a lot of these stores will price match. This happened to me a few years back when I was shopping for a Christmas present for my sister at Target. I found the same product I was buying for her at Walmart for a few dollars cheaper and asked the cashier to match Walmart’s price. A few clicks later, I walked out of the Target with a Walmart-priced item.
Only spend money that you have.
If you’re going into credit card debt to buy an espresso machine, someday you are going to regret it. Trust me, I’ve been wanting an espresso machine for years and I can tell you that no amount of on-demand lattes would ever justify debt and a rapidly decreasing credit score. Start a sinking fund for the items that you really want, and buy them at full price when you have the necessary cash. Or buy them on the Black Friday after you reach your goal amount. I’m telling you, it will be so much more rewarding.
Okay, I’m done now. I promise.
In all seriousness, those are my Black Friday shopping tips. Honestly, they are not even targeted toward just Black Friday, but shopping as a whole. Black Friday really just makes it a point to bring out the consumerist in everyone, even when that is potentially damaging to their financial health. I just wanted to remind you of that before you wound up in line at a Walmart somewhere questioning all of your life choices. It happens to the best of us.
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