Black Friday is finally here! But don’t think this the only time you can save on #holiday #gifts — the day is only the start of Cyber Week and other retailer promotions. Good Housekeeping is tracking some of the week’s best deals, and CNET offers a shopping widget you can use with your internet browser to make sure you get the best price on millions of items. Don’t forget to shop local on Small Business Saturday and throughout the holiday season, either — shopping local businesses is typically more sustainable and ecofriendly than shipping a gift thousands of miles to your door. #BlackFriday2023
Tag: Cyber Monday
Get the Best Deals on Black Friday
To ensure you get the absolute best Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals, be sure to check the model numbers, says Today. Especially in electronics, companies often offer a near-identical stripped-down model that isn’t what you want or the deal you think it is. You can also check an item’s price history to see if it has been just as cheap in the past. For online shopping, try clearing your browser’s history or using private browsing to ensure you get the latest markdowns. And if you find an amazing “doorbuster” deal on something you really need, buy it fast before it sells out.
Use Tech to Track Prices This Holiday Season
Have you ever shopped for something only to see it again a few days later at a lower price? To get the absolute best deals on your Black Friday/Cyber Monday shopping this year without monitoring the computer 24/7, The Verge says, take advantage of a tech assist. Price-tracking apps and browser extensions can track the prices of your most-wanted items at shopping sites such as Amazon.com, search for discount codes or search commerce sites for a specific item to find the lowest price. And they will notify you of the best deals as they appear, taking most of the legwork — and keystrokes — out of the search.
Black Friday Deals Arrived Early This Year
Buying stuff you don’t need is against the principles of the Organizing Blog — cluttered home, cluttered mind, we always say. But if you can get a great deal on something that you or the people on your gift list really need, go ahead and spend! Dozens of national retailers have already launched “Black Friday” sales well ahead of the holiday shopping season’s traditional launch day, USA Today reports, so there is likely something you can check off your shopping list weeks in advance. Shop early, stay organized and stick to a budget for the most stress-free holiday experience.
Declutter and Donate Ahead of the Holidays
The holiday season is upon us, and every day, retailers provide us with new incentives to spend: Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, Cyber Monday. But those thoughtful gifts and doorbuster deals can take up lots of space in an already-cluttered home. That’s why you should do a pre-Christmas decluttering, knowing that new stuff is on the way.
If you have children, there will definitely be new toys coming into the home, and you probably have huge bins of old toys that have fallen out of favor or are no longer age-appropriate. Sort through them and get rid of anything broken or incomplete, The (Mostly) Simple Life suggests, and involve kids in the process. Set aside anything that’s useful, but unused.
As you decorate the home, edit out any decorations that no longer make the cut. Whether it’s burned-out string lights, cracked tree ornaments or dog-eared accents, trash anything that’s too worn to fulfill its function. If something is still functional, but you don’t like it or want to display it, set it aside in a “donate” pile.
This is also an excellent time to take stock of cold-weather clothing. If there are items you won’t be wearing due to changes in sizes or styles, set them aside. At the same time, you can sort, streamline and store your summer wardrobe. Was there anything that spent the entire summer in your drawers and closets? Get rid of it!
Put all of the still-usable castoff decorations, games, toys, sweaters, swimwear and other goods into boxes and bags, and visit ClothingDonations.org to schedule a pickup. If you do so quickly, many of your unique but unwanted items will be available to other shoppers for purchase ahead of Christmas — making their holidays happier.
When you give away the stuff you’re not using, it can find a new purpose with someone else who can really use it. They might actually want and enjoy that stuffed Santa or those old baby clothes. And when they purchase those disused items through a thrift store supplied by ClothingDonations.org, they will help fund veterans’ programs throughout the year.
An added bonus? After you’ve done a thorough, pre-holiday decluttering, you’ll know better what you and your family need to buy new — making holiday shopping and gifting easier. Better still, you’ll have reclaimed the space in your home you need to store it. Start decluttering today — Giving Tuesday — for a happy holiday season!