Rule No. 1 of Black Friday Weekend Shopping – DON’T GET CAUGHT UP IN THE SPENDING FRENZY.
If you don’t know what I mean, bless you. If you do know what I mean, then this might sound familiar: one purchase leads to another, and before you know it, your cart is filled with “good deals” that you don’t really need but justify as necessary because they’re on sale/such a good deal/can’t live without/will find some purpose for once they arrive. Am I right?
Before you start any kind of shopping this weekend (as many “Black Friday” deals have started as early as last night/today), make a list of what you actually want to buy. This can help curb the spending, both in-store and online. What I like to do is go through my pantry, closet, and/or beauty boxes and see what I’m actually in need of.
To be completely honest, it’s oftentimes a very small list, but sometimes there are limited edition products that catch my eye, must-have gifts for others, etc. I’m a sucker for a well put-together gift basket or set. They’re literally my achilles heel of shopping…so if I’m going to buy one (or many), I try to make sure I’m actually getting a good deal for something that I could actually use or need a gift for someone (and I think they’d genuinely use/like it).
Rule No. 2 of Black Friday Weekend Shopping: SET A BUDGET.
This goes with the first rule, but if you set a budget and know the sales ahead of time/what you’d like buy, you can guesstimate about how much you’ll be spending. Budgets are also important because they help keep you inline so you don’t get crazy with one sale, and then another one, and then another one. If you’ve set a budget and allocate your funds evenly across all the different purchases you want to make, your credit/debit cards will be much happier (and maybe in the position to make a donation to a charity or two on Giving Tuesday).
Rule No. 3 of Black Friday Weekend Shopping: USE CASH BACK APPS (I’ve written about these before, but there are website versions as well as in-app ones, and many are having double and triple cash back options for purchases both in-store and online this weekend…you just have to activate them prior to purchasing & oftentimes can only use one at a time, otherwise it will invalidate the cash back).
SO, without further adieu, these are some of the sales I’ll be eyeballin’ in no particular order, other than alphabetical:
–Amazon: just like Prime Day, Amazon is running a variety of lightning deals & extra promos. Of note, there are lots of fun “sample boxes” (where you pay anywhere from $5 to $19.99 for a box of samples and then you get a promo code to put that towards a full sized item of anything in the box). I got the Tea & Coffee one tonight for $9.99. It looks like there are lots of deals on electronics, so be sure to check those out (but definitely price shop before you commit to a purchase). PS…if you have a Discover credit card and have activated the current cash back option, you can get 5% back on any Amazon purchases!
–Anthropologie: 30% off site wide & in stores (discount reflected at checkout for both)
–Bloomingdales: an extra 50% off sale items from November 22 – Black Friday (code: BLACKFRIDAY)
–ColourPop: $4 liquid lips + free shipping on orders $30+ Thanksgiving – Saturday; 20% off site wide Cyber Monday only
–Crate & Barrel: 15% off full priced items (code: SAVE15), up to 40% off furniture (no code needed), 40% off moscow mule mugs, and up to 70% off kitchen-related purchases like Wüsthof cutlery, all clad slow cookers, and Calphalon cookwear (among many other items)
–Drybar: 20% off products, tools, kits, & accessories in-store & online November 24- November 26 (discount reflected on prices, no code needed)
–Gilded Arrow: this is going to be their ONLY sale of the YEAR…but it’s not this weekend. Check back on their IG and/or website for details next week!
–Glossier: 20% off + free shipping Black Friday through Cyber Monday (applied automatically @ checkout)
–Kate Spade: 30% off everything in store & online (full price & sale; code: GIVEJOY) now – Sunday
–L’Occitane: free gift set (7 best-seller hand cremes) with any purchase of $85+ from November 22 to November 26; purchases of $165+ get the hand cream set + a curated gift set of skincare, bath, and body products (code for first two promos: THANKFUL); 20% off site wide Cyber Monday – November 29
–Lancome: 20% off any order + free full sized highlighter glow stick (code: FRIENDS)
–Lotus Soap Shop: 30% sitewide for Black Friday (code: FRIDAY30); there will be new promotions appearing on IG/their website for Small Business Saturday & Cyber Monday…so keep your eyes peeled for those
–Lush: you won’t find any sales this weekend, but keep an eye out after Christmas when Lush typically has the biggest sale of the year (no joke, it’s worth the wait to buy ALL the bathbombs).
–MAC: 25% off the entire website + 5 extra samples (you have to be a MAC select member to get the promo, but you can do that by simply signing up for their email list before completing a purchase; code: MAC25)
–Madewell: 25% off starting November 19 for Madewell Insiders; Black Friday will have a 25% off sale (no insider status required, just code: DONTSTRESS)
–Nordstrom (Beauty): from November 23-27, there will be a variety of brand-specific promotions, like MAC, Benefit, Smashbox, and more…both in store and online
–Nordstrom (Apparel, Footwear, & Accessories): an extra 20% off *selected* sale items from Thanksgiving Day through Cyber Monday (online); November 24 – Cyber Monday (in-store) + free shipping on all orders
–Ole Henriksen: complimentary 9-piece skincare set of minis + free shipping (code: FRIYAY) now until Cyber Monday
–Old Navy: 50% off entire purchase November 22-24 (discount taken at checkout, no code needed)
–Ouai: no specific discount codes, but there is a special kit called “Every Which Ouai” that retails for $85 with a stated value of $139 that includes 5 products and a clear envelope clutch (great for sporting event and concerts that don’t allow bags into venues); this is available until Cyber Monday
–Premiere Collectibles: if you’re into signed books, this is the place to be! 15% off orders $50-$99, 25% off $100-$499, and 35% off $500+, & free shipping off orders $100+ (no promo code needed, discount taken based on cart subtotal before taxes & shipping)
–Sephora: there are a bunch of $15 & under gift sets that range from makeup and skincare to hair and tools
–Tarte: 25% off site wide (code: FRIYAY; deal applies to most things, there are a few exceptions noted on the website)
–Ted Baker: up to 50% off full priced items now – Cyber Monday (p.s. their site can get super busy, so you might be placed in a queue to access the online store); discounts also available in store
–Target: BOGO 50% beauty gift sets (aka 25% off each gift set…provided you buy two; this is one of the biggest Black Friday promos this weekend); there is another promo that if you spend $50 this weekend, you’ll get mailed a 20% off coupon in December. ALSO, these specific categories are having major sales (you’re welcome):
- Save 40% on select home update items
- Save 40% on select furniture items
- Save 40% on select patio items
- Save 40% on select indoor & outdoor rugs
- Save 40% on select kids’ home update items
- Save 20% on select kitchen items
- Save 50% on select toy gift sets
- Save 40% on select Christmas trees
- Save 50% on select video games
- Save 50% off publishers list prices on select books
For more Target specific savings, this is an amazing link with all current deals & exclusions.
Rule No. 4 of Black Friday Weekend Shopping: KEEP A TRACK OF YOUR PURCHASES.
While it’s easy to make lots of purchases, it’s another to keep a track of them all. If you order from Sephora and the order is super delayed, you can call Customer Service & discuss getting extra insider points for the inconvenience. Same goes for Amazon Prime – if you order with Prime shipping and it takes longer than a few days, you can get either store credit or an Amazon Prime subscription extension, depending on the severity of the delay.
When I make lots of purchases, I put all of the confirmation emails into a “Pending Orders” folder, followed by a “Past Orders” folder once I’ve received them. This helps me keep my inboxes organized & so I know which orders still haven’t arrived (because you never know, packages can and do get lost…so keep a track of those tracking numbers and estimated dates of arrival so you’re home or have someone who can snag them so they’re not sitting on the doorstep tempting someone to give them a new home).
Last but certainly not least, my last rule of the day.
Rule No. 5 of Black Friday Weekend Shopping: This may not be the best time to buy certain items.
According to multiple retail analysts, Black Friday/Cyber Monday aren’t the best times to buy all the things. These items notoriously have better sales at different times of the year:
-Jewelry (January-February to entice Valentine’s Day gifts)
-Giftcards (December, many restaurants and retailers offer BOGO or free with purchase gift cards, so hold out for those. I know CPK has a current deal that’s purchase $100, get $20)
-Winter Clothing (January-onwards because of clearance markdowns after the holiday rush of returns)
This isn’t to say you won’t find a good deal in any of these categories, but be careful of promotions marked “sale” for items that are exclusively put out for this weekend’s shopping extravaganza. There is such a thing as “too good to be true.” Also, watch out for final sale/no return purchases…because if you don’t try it on/it breaks shortly after use, you might be stuck with it.
If you have any other sales/deals/or insider tips, please leave them in the comments below (or in instagram, @2LWithIt), because #SharingIsCaring (no really, there aren’t any affiliate links here, I just genuinely want you to find some good bargains).
Until Soon,
kissed.with.a.quip.
P.S. There are no affiliate links in this post, so click away! I just put this together because I personally appreciate cultivated lists like this, especially if there are new brands I might be inclined to try!
P.P.S. If any of the codes are invalid/expired, please let me know so I can update them (all of them worked when I wrote this last night, but I know the promos are constantly changing this weekend).
