How to Stay Energized During Black Friday Shopping
Hunting transforms from a hobby into an extreme sport. For most of us, this shopping marathon can also be exhausting.
Of course, you could always stay home, but if you choose to brave the crowds, keep your energy up with the following 10 shopping tips:
1. Set your spending limit ahead of time.
Last-minute spending squabbles with your partner can be emotionally draining. Talk it over the night before and decide on your upper spending limit. Then, stick to it. If you know you have trouble fighting temptation, bring just one cash back credit card each. Your cash and other credit cards will be safer at home!
2. Write a well-prioritized shopping list.
You don’t want to exhaust yourself finding the perfect trinket for the mail carrier before finding a gift for your mother, right? So, write your shopping list with your partner the night before, and rank each item by priority.
Jot down each recipient’s name and the type of gift or gifts you’d like to buy them. You may want to include each recipient’s clothing sizes and shoe sizes, along with any food allergies they may have.
3. Use a GPS or map to plan your route ahead of time.
If you spend the whole day fighting traffic to visit every big store in your area, you’ll wear yourself out. Decide which stores to hit ahead of time by comparing Black Friday deals online. Crowds will be hectic, so stick to one or two stores.
It’s important to decide how you’ll get there. If you’re driving, have at least two routes planned out on a map to account for possible traffic jams. GPS users may be able to program these in ahead of time. For those that live near shopping areas, walking or biking may be a better option, if you’re not planning on buying large items. Of course, you’ll still need to watch traffic carefully. Carpooling is also a good idea.
4. Don’t bring the kids.
If you have kids, you bet they’ll want to come, but find them a babysitter instead. Not only will keeping them by your side all day be a battle, but Black Friday can be downright dangerous.
According to The New York Times, 34-year-old Wal-Mart employee Jdimytai Damour was trampled to death on Black Friday in 2008. Other employees who stood by him were also injured. Even when Black Friday stampedes aren’t fatal, the jostling and shoving can be hard on the little ones.
5. Wear layers.
Sure, it may be November, but with all of the people packed into each store, you can still get uncomfortably toasty. Stay fresh by wearing many thin layers you can quickly remove.
6. Pack sturdy snacks and non-caffeinated drinks.
Once you see how packed your shopping mall’s food court is, you won’t want to eat there. Keep your energy up by bringing cereal bars, trail mix, or granola bars. Stay away from anything that will crumble if crushed.
You may be tempted to drink coffee to wake yourself up for the early bird deals, but stay away from caffeine for the day. Caffeine can lead to more bathroom trips, and on Black Friday, that could mean trading a valuable spot in the check-out line for a spot in the bathroom line!
7. Bring a notepad, pen, and calculator.
Don’t fry your brain trying to add up all your purchases in your head; do things the easy way and bring a calculator instead. Sure, your phone has one, but when you’re being crowded from all directions, will you have the patience to poke those tiny buttons with the tip of your finger?
The pen and notepad are for taking notes on the items you bought.
8. Carry something fun to do in line.
You can keep your mental alertness up by bringing something fun to do while you wait in those painful lines. Download some games for your Kindle, Nook, or iPad, or go low-tech and bring Sudoku or crossword puzzles.
9. Keep all your receipts in a special place.
What’s more exhausting than spending half an hour digging through all your shopping bags for the right receipt? Well, spending a whole hour trying to find it in the trash, for one. Skip the drama by keeping all of your receipts in a safe place, like a small folder.
Even if you’re sure you won’t be returning any of your items, keep the receipts anyway. Other people might.
10. Walk away from arguments.
Shopping is tiring enough without dealing with other people’s attitude problems. Make a conscious choice ahead of time to stay away from conflicts. If another shopper yells at you over an item, don’t play into it. If you touched it first, it’s yours, so just put it in your cart and quietly walk toward the front of the store. If they touched it first, step back and let them have it.
Some things in life are worth fighting for. This isn’t one of them.
Sierra Dawson from the cash back credit card offers website CreditDonkey contributed this article. As you can see, planning ahead of time and keeping a cool head are the keys to keeping your spirits up on Black Friday. Now, go get ‘em, tiger!
