How To Conquer Black Friday

Black Friday is the ultimate shopping day. Thousands of turkey-fueled consumers head out into the cold to battle for holiday gift-giving deals, some of which aren’t even that great. Whether you think it’s the best day to spend or a sign of society’s total depravity, Black Friday can be a fun and successful experience, if you give it some forethought.

Know what you want. As with many things in life, it’s good to know what you want before you go after it. If you just go shopping looking for good deals, you’ll come home with a lot of regrettable purchases, or spend your shopping budget before you get to that one great find. You don’t have to be terribly specific, but it’s important to have a general idea. Maybe you want to buy mostly clothing items, or primarily electronics. Maybe you know more specifically what kind of gifts you want to buy for the people on your list. Even if you don’t have a singular item picked out, know at least the types of items that you want.

Know where to go. Once you know what you want, you can figure out where you need to go, in order to avoid any unnecessary stops that turn into unnecessary purchases. If you only want to buy high-end items, don’t go to the blowout sale at Target. If you’re only shopping for your immediate family, there’s no reason to stop into your favorite stores “just to look.”

Make a game plan. If there are popular items on your to-buy list that are going to go fast, you’ll want to get those first. From there, you can map out the rest of your purchases to make sure you’re following the most efficient route possible. Don’t zigzag around the mall or city — it’s just a waste of time. Start in the most important spot and work your way around in a methodical manner.

Enlist help. No one should face Black Friday alone. Grab a few of your friends or family members, particularly if there are a few popular pieces you each want, so you can all split up and grab items for the others before they’re gone. You can meet back up at the end of the night to swap purchases.

Start early. Black Friday now begins as early as 6 p.m. on Thanksgiving evening. After that, most stores open in shifts leading up to the beginning of the business day on Friday — typically 8 p.m., 10 p.m., 12 a.m., 4 a.m. and 6 a.m. While some people stay up all night to hit every single deal, you can often begin at that first time slot on Thanksgiving evening and stay out until midnight to grab all of the best stuff. If a store doesn’t open until normal business hours on Friday, they’ll typically still have the best items whenever you go back the next day.