Black Friday!!!

Money-Guy 11-12-2010

That’s right! It’s that time of year again. I think the name probably says it all… Black Friday is upon us.  This is one of my absolute favorite days of the year because I love the challenge of seeing just how far I can stretch my dollars!

In today’s show I walk through my “commando” style of Black Friday shopping. To start it off, I share a little history of how Black Friday originated. Back in 1966, the Philadelphia Police Department dubbed the day after Thanksgiving “Black Friday”, marking the official opening of the Christmas shopping season in Center City. This day usually brought massive traffic jams, over-crowded sidewalks, and mobs from open to close. Needless to say, this was not meant to be an endearing term. From this, and thanks to the technology revolution, we even now have a “Cyber Monday”.

As you listen to the show, I share these simple steps to get the most of your Black Friday shopping:

• Take Inventory – Decide beforehand exactly what you need and what you need to be looking for. Don’t treat this day like just another casual trip to the mall.The most prepared will be the most successful.

• Research Best in Class – Make sure the deal you are getting is actually for a quality product. Often times retailers will make you THINK your getting a great deal, but the underlying product probably wasn’t worth very much to start with. Use some of these resources as you do your research:

1. ConsumerReports.org
2. Cnet.com
3. Amazon.com
4. PriceGrabber.com

• Don’t Fall Prey to the Filler Items – Don’t buy what you don’t need. Focus on getting those items that were part of your original inventory. Just because something is on sale doesn’t mean you need to have it!

• The Internet is Your Friend – There are so many resources out there for you to use, it would be silly not to spend some time surfing the web and performing your due diligence. Whether I am looking for good deals or researching different products, here are some of my favorite websites to use around Black Friday each year:

1. Bfads.net
2. BlackFriday.info
3. TGIBlackFriday.com (Be sure to check out their iPhone app!)
4. DealCatcher.com

We go on in the show to share some common things to watch out for as you are doing your Black Friday shopping as well as some tips and tricks (like price matching) to give you a competitive advantage over other shoppers. Even if you aren’t a “door-buster” type person, we have some thoughts for you on how you can still take advantage of those amazing deals that will be available!

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