Black Friday?

Monday, December 1st, 2008

As Turbo-Moms, how many of you actually ventured out and did some Black Friday shopping?  I, actually, did not.

Ack! What kind of “super-saver” Mom doesn’t brave the mall on Black Friday?  This Turbo-Mom finds that in-store Black Friday deals can be difficult to obtain and often, a big waste of time. Standing in front of Best Buy at 4am in CT in November is not the best use of my time…

Instead, I have found that doing most of my shopping online is the best way to save time and money–as long as I don’t let myself hang around on too many websites for too long!

Another massive time & money saver when it comes to Christmas shopping is Excel.  Huh? Call me nerdy, but each year in October or so, I make an Excel spreadsheet with each year’s gift recipients, what I am buying them and how much I plan to spend.  This way, I can keep track of who I’ve bought for, who I haven’t, what I was planning to get them in the first place, and how much it should cost.  Then there are no surprises when it comes to the spending totals and no worry in January of how to pay for everything.

Also, some stores seem to be bringing back layaway policies I’ve noticed.  If you want to start your own “Christmas Savings” account, go to www.ingdirect.com and open an online savings account.  They are my favorite of the bunch because they don’t have any catches or minimums and it is really easy to do.  Then, if you know you regularly spend (for example) $500 per year on Christmas gifts, have $45/month auto-debited from your checking account.  Then, when Christmas comes around, you have your cash and budget in-line…with a lot fewer headaches come January.

Copyright 2008-2009 Kristin Delfau, author of Turbo-Mom's Guide to Saving Money Without Wasting Time a womens' personal finance book, and Aji Publishing.

Tags: excel, ING, shopping
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