How To Take Advantage of the Black Friday Sales

The beloved week of Black Friday is right around the corner and shoppers all over the world are preparing and planning for all of the deals, both online and offline. As you will already know, many brands take this time to promote themselves and push offers out to their customers, typically offering a large percentage deducted from the original price. Black Friday, now known as one of the largest discount periods of the year originated from the USA. It was commonly used to describe the madness which occurred the day after Thanksgiving as families flocked to the nearest stores. Over time, the tradition made its way across the pond, blessing the UK before the run-up to Christmas.

If you’re somebody who enjoys shopping, you may have already seen specific shops with discounts. This is because some of the deals have actually already started. In fact, many people have already made the most of the reductions and stocked up for Christmas. But, if you haven’t begun it’s not to worry, we have plenty of tips and tricks you can use in order to take advantage of the sale season.

How Much Is Usually Spent Around Black Friday?

Before we get onto the discount tips and tricks, let’s set the scene! We all know that Black Friday is a time of year where millions of people spend that little bit extra. Though, did you know that according to Statista.com, the value of spending over the weekend in 2020 equated to around £7.95 billion in the UK alone? £4.77 billion were produced through online sales and the remaining £3.18 billion were offline purchases. Despite being so high, statistics show that the spending actually dropped by a large amount in 2020 due to the pandemic. However, predictions suggest that this year, spending will break the previous records.

Browse Before Buying

Buying the first thing you see is something a lot of people struggle with. Unfortunately, strong money management skills aren’t everybody’s speciality, but that doesn’t mean that you can’t improve. One of the most common mistakes people unintentionally make is impulsive spending. This is when a person completes a sale without any thought or plan behind it. Usually, when you see something you like and buy it on the spot without thinking.

With the sales and discounts among us, if you’re not careful, you may end up spending more than you need to. If you see something you like on one website, we advise you to search elsewhere as you might find it at a lower price. The competition between brands for products and services is very high around this weekend, therefore, the chances of you finding it at a cheaper price is higher than usual. So, to save yourself that extra cash, ensure you are tactically browsing.

Ask For A Receipt Or A Gift Receipt

Just as we mentioned above financial mistakes are common, everybody makes them at some point. Therefore, ensuring you have a receipt is essential in order to be able to return or exchange the item if necessary. Not only this but having a receipt makes it easier to track your spending. Ensuring you stay on top of your budget is one of the most important financial aspects. Nobody wants to end up with any kind of debt or financial worries when they can be prevented. Therefore, making a note of what you’ve spent and when you have spent it will allow you to steer clear.

With Christmas approaching, you may be buying gifts for other people, perhaps your family or close friends. However, purchasing for others can be hard. With all of the seasonal hassle and stress, struggling to remember the basics can be difficult. Therefore, thankfully, many shops will offer gift receipts. These are the same as normal receipts in the sense of refunds and returns, but, they do not contain the price.

Plan Ahead (…if you can!)

Rushing into a shopping craze with no end goal will never end well whichever way you look at it. If you know you want to make a purchase, but you’re unsure what or where from, that’s the question you need to answer before you hit the sales. Planning ahead will enable you to have a clear idea of the outcome you’re hoping for. This way, you know what to expect before the storm arises.

Despite being so close to the date, it’s not too late to plan. We understand you might not have the time to find all the information you’d hope for. But, making a start will keep you away from shopping without a purpose. Therefore, helping you to save money and prevent any kind of debt.

Remember, getting carried away with the hype of the discounts is easy. Although, that doesn’t mean you have to make a purchase. If you find yourself overspending or spending money you do not have, you may end up in a poor financial position, and that’s definitely not what we want throughout the festive period. If you find yourself with any emergency money struggles or worries, here at LoanPig we can help, for more information click here.