My Black Friday strategy

A good friend of mine asked me to go shopping with her this Friday. At the outlets. At the beach. In Delaware (where we live. No sales tax). I thought about it for awhile before I said yes (and had confirmation that we aren’t going to get there at the asscrack of dawn). I considered a number of pros: my in-laws live about 30 minutes from the outlets, my friend is willing to meet me in between the stores and my in-laws’ home so I don’t have to drive the whole distance and it’s a day I get to spend with friends.

And about a million other people. So there’s that.

But I’m willing to get over that because, although I hate crowds, it will be nice to get out of my in-laws’ house for a few hours and do some outlet shopping. It’ll give me a chance to pick up not only some desperately needed household items but some Hanukkah and Christmas presents with no one in my family breathing down my neck, screaming “I’m hungry” or “Are we done yet”.

I’m kind of looking forward to that part.

What I’m not looking forward to are the temptations that I know will be in abundance. Outlet prices are tempting enough but when you couple them with Black Friday sales, they’re pretty ridiculous. I know myself and I know that I have to approach my shopping expedition with a strategy for a) getting what I need; b) surviving the crowds without contemplating homicide or assault; and c) not spending all my money in one day. So, I’ve spent some time and thought about how I’m going to handle Black Friday:

1. Adhere to a cash budget. I know how exactly how much money I have to spend on every member of my family. I have to stick to that budget pretty tightly because now that we’re a one income family (well, technically one and a half but my next part-time paycheck is going towards a new mattress). In order to do that, I’m only bringing cash and I’m putting the cash in envelopes marked for each person. I can’t be trusted with a credit card and my debit card also presents a danger. So, cash it is.
2. Stick to my list. Like Santa, I made a list and I’m checking it twice. Only instead of finding out whose naughty or nice, my list will tell what I need to buy. And since I need to stick to my budget, that also means I need to stick to my list. It doesn’t matter if I see something cute or awesome; if it’s not on the list, it’s not getting bought (unless I’ve purchased everything else and still have money left over. Then we can negotiate).
3. Repeat this mantra: A deal isn’t a deal if it’s something I don’t need. If I find something that’s a fantastic, once in a lifetime price and it happens to be on an item I don’t need and can’t afford, it’s not a deal. It’ll break my budget, make me veer from my list and, while I’ll probably have an initial high from finding such as sweet deal, I know that I’ll wind up with buyer’s remorse. And that? Is a surefire way to ruin this kind of shopping trip.
4. Resist the influence of others. George Thoroughgood drinks alone. I shop alone. I’m horrible at letting others’ opinions interfere with my common sense. I’m weak at times and get talked into making frivolous purchases or going over budget (you know those statements “don’t worry about it? It’s only $5?” Well, they add up. Figuratively and literally). I have to stand strong and not let that happen. No matter how good of an argument my friends might make.
5. Avoid certain stores. There are certain stores that, no matter how hard I try, I will not be able to walk out of without buying things (why, yes, Bath and Body Works, I am talking to you).  There are some stores, like Kate Spade and Coach where I can window shop with no problems (because I can’t afford most of the items) but the other ones, nope. No way. They take all my money. All self-control  I have gets left at the door. To combat that, I will adamantly refuse to set foot in those stores unless I have budgeted money for them. Which, now that I think about it, is probably a good idea.

And as far as Cyber Monday? I’m avoiding that madness as much as possible. Except for the things I have to order online and for those, I’ve already planned and budgeted. It’s much easier for me to control myself on Cyber Monday than on a Black Friday trip to the outlets.

This is the first year I’m going shopping on Black Friday. If all goes well, I might consider doing it again. If not, I’ll just revert to my old plan—finishing up shopping before Thanksgiving even starts.

Readers, if you’re going shopping on Black Friday, how do you plan on keeping your spending in check?