Everything You Should Do Now If You Shop on Black Friday

Black Friday usually comes with a lot of hype and build-up despite its mildly depressing history. If you don't take the right approach and prepare, you can make some rookie mistakes and end up being exploited by retailers rather than the other way around. If you want to be a more savvy shopper, here are some actionable steps you can take to make sure you come out on top this Nov. 29.

First things first: Have a budget

It's easy to get carried away with what seems like great deals that you can't afford to miss." But buying blindly and letting your emotions take the wheel usually leads to regret and a hefty credit card balance down the road. Come with a plan. How much can you realistically afford to spend on Black Friday? Having one can make you spend more mindfully and avoid impulse buying. If you don't know where or how to start, there are budgeting apps tailored to your financial goals and general budgeting techniques that can make it easier to get started.

Know what you need/want

Apart from knowing how much to spend, knowing what you actually need or want will keep you focused and avoid buying things you don't really need. Make a list of items you need or want. If you're shopping on Amazon, you can use the same tools from Prime Day to set price alerts or make a list on the products you want to keep an eye on (Alexa devices can notify you when they go on sale too). They might not all be going on sale, but if they do, you'll be ready and feel good about it.

Use the tools available to you

There are many apps to help you shop smartly. One of my favorites is Honey. You can keep a list of items you're interested in buying this Black Friday by adding them to Honey's droplist, and it comes with a couple of benefits. First, it'll keep the items you want to keep tabs on organized and easily accessible. Second, it'll track the prices of those products and alert you when they go on sale at any major retailer. You can see how much those prices cost leading up to the sale to see if they are, in fact, good deals or a trick from retailers to take advantage of you, and even compare them with other major retailers to see who has the best deal. You can see how to set up your droplist here. We'll also keep you updated with the best vetted Black Friday deals once they start.

Using other price-tracking tools is also a good idea to make sure you're getting a historically good price on any deal. You'll be able to see the history of any product and how other sales compare to the current price. If it has been cheaper before, it might be better to wait for a different sale.

Shop online and early

Black Friday sales have inevitably already started early, as they do every year. Shopping early means you'll secure many on-demand products that will likely sell fast, and as previous sales have shown, products that sell out ahead of time aren't always restocked for the actual event. Your best bet is to buy them early if they are a popular item that is already well-discounted (Honey's price history will show you how good of a discount it is).

To avoid the masses and possibly getting trampled, try to do your shopping online. Most shoppers during Black Friday plan to go in-person, according to the National Retail Federation. However, retailers know that many people still shop online. As such, many retailers make their best deals available online as well, making it more of a hybrid event, and most major retailers offer free shipping with their loyalty programs anyway.

If you only take one bit of advice for shopping on Black Friday, let it be this one: Don't buy anything you weren't going to buy anyway.