Black Friday, Small Biz Saturday, Cyber Monday: Head into This Weekend Prepared
Published on November 27, 2024
•3 min read
Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, and Cyber Monday deals have already started, and the holiday shopping season has begun. Millions of Americans are expected to participate in the weekend sales according to the National Retail Federation, 183.4 million shoppers to be exact.
Go in with a Game Plan
Deals this weekend can be enticing, which can lead to overspending.
Before heading into the stores Thursday, or shopping online Monday, it is important to set a budget, create a plan, and stick to it.
If you have yet to set a holiday budget, it is important to start there. Who am I buying for? How much can I afford to spend on each person?
[Build your holiday budget! https://www.metrocu.org/blog/americans-will-spend-900-this-holiday-season-avoid-the-hefty-price-tag]
- A list of great places to start.
- Write down every person you are buying for, what they may want, and establish a price range for each.
- Add up that total to get your budget and adjust based on what makes sense for you.
Once your budget is established, or for those who already have a holiday budget, make sure you have subtracted any gifts and money already spent on gifts. Take the updated budget number and begin finding the deals you want, and where they are.
Be Careful of the “Good Deals”
The deals are out there, and many are great, but some might not be what you think they are.
WalletHub Analyst Chip Lupo explained that their data found approximately 41% of items offer no real discount or savings compared to their usual price on this holiday sales weekend.
Researching the products you are interested in buying, especially electronics and big-ticket items, can help you avoid overspending.
- Search the product online to see discounts compared to other stores and websites. Reverse image searches can show you all the places offering that product in-stock and the cost.
- Browsing Black Friday catalogs can help you find hidden deals not widely advertised.
- Identify what stores will let you stack coupons or discount codes with their promotional sales weekend offers.
- Look for additional offers like a minimum spending amount for additional money off or gift cards. This can help you decide what store might be worth buying your gifts from versus going from place to place (or website to website) all day.
- Double check your list right before you shop to see if additional deals or offers pop up.
Major box and department stores tend to host the biggest Black Friday deals, according to WalletHub. With overall discounts ranging from 54% to 94%, make sure you’re doing the work that will help you save more!
Store Rewards, Metro Rewards, and Credit Card Points
You can potentially earn for the purchases you make this weekend, so let’s make sure you’re taking advantage of that!
For each store you plan on shopping at, make sure they have a rewards program. This does not necessarily mean you need a store credit card.
Instead, most stores have free rewards programs that allow you to earn points on purchases, email you discounts, and get your in-store cash back. The stores you shop at may also have additional discounts this weekend for their rewards members.
Earning rewards points can come back to help you get discounts on items you may have to pick up last second before the holidays!
The card you are paying with could earn you points or cash back, too.
Metro Rewards Points is a program that Metro Credit Union offers for debit card holders. By spending the holidays on your debit card, you can stack Metro Rewards Points to claim cash back inside iBanking, Metro’s online banking platform.
Metro credit card holders have access to 1.75% cash back and UChoose Rewards. This is an online platform that gets you your cash back and can take you to online retail partners offering our credit card holders more discounts when they shop through this portal.
The holiday sales weekend can certainly be a cost-saving adventure that can make your holiday season great. Start preparing now to take advantage of the right offers and check off everything on your list!
