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Smart Black Friday Shopping: Maximize Savings, Minimize Debt

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The Countdown to Savings Begins

Black Friday, held the day after Thanksgiving, is the biggest shopping event of the year in the U.S. Retailers unveil steep discounts, and consumers can find major savings both in-store and online. In 2024, Black Friday falls on Friday, November 29, offering shoppers the chance to save big ahead of the holidays.

While the excitement of Black Friday can make it easy to overspend, this guide will help you navigate deals wisely and avoid unnecessary debt. With smart planning and a focus on key purchases, you can maximize your savings and enjoy the holiday season without financial stress.

What to Buy on Black Friday

Target the Best Deals of the Season

Black Friday is famous for its deep discounts on certain items. Knowing what to target can lead to significant savings. Here are the top categories to prioritize:

  • TVs and Electronics: If you’re ready to upgrade your home entertainment system or snag the latest tech, Black Friday is the time. Retailers are expected to offer discounts like $899 for a 75-inch 4K Smart TV, down from $1,300. Popular items like wireless earbuds, laptops, and gaming consoles will also see major price drops.
  • Kitchen Appliances: Small kitchen gadgets, such as air fryers, coffee makers, and mixers, are often heavily discounted. For example, a KitchenAid Artisan Stand Mixer, typically $449, is predicted to drop to $299. These deals make Black Friday a great time for home chefs to upgrade their gear.
  • Winter Apparel: Brands like Columbia, Patagonia, and North Face are likely to offer 40%-50% off winter clothing. Coats, boots, and other essentials are often deeply discounted as retailers clear inventory ahead of seasonal shifts.

Shopping in these categories can yield significant savings, but remember: A deal is only valuable if it’s something you truly need and plan to buy.

What Not to Buy on Black Friday

Avoid These Spending Traps

While Black Friday can offer fantastic deals, some categories are better left for later:

  • Toys: These often see bigger discounts closer to Christmas. Retailers tend to mark them down in mid-December to target last-minute shoppers.
  • Holiday Décor: As tempting as it might be, hold off until after the holidays when décor is discounted by 50%-75% during clearance sales.
  • Tools and Home Improvement Items: Discounts in this category are often steeper during spring or summer events like Memorial Day or Father’s Day sales.

By avoiding these items on Black Friday, you can focus your spending on areas where the savings are genuinely significant.

Examples of Past Black Friday Savings

Real Deals from Previous Years

Looking back at past Black Fridays gives insight into the kinds of savings you might find this year. Here are three standout examples:

  • Electronics Galore: In 2023, a high-end 65-inch 4K Smart TV was discounted from $1,200 to $799—a 33% price drop. Similar savings are expected in 2024, particularly on TVs, laptops, and gaming consoles.
  • Kitchen Must-Haves: Last year, a premium stand mixer from KitchenAid dropped from $379 to $279. These discounts are expected to return in 2024, with additional savings on air fryers and coffee machines.
  • Fashion Finds: In 2023, major retailers offered 50% discounts on winter apparel, making it easy for shoppers to find coats and boots originally priced at $200 for just $100.

These examples highlight the kinds of deals shoppers can anticipate and serve as benchmarks for evaluating discounts this year.

Strategies for Smart Black Friday Shopping

Maximize Savings Without Overspending

To make the most of Black Friday deals, follow these smart shopping tips:

  1. Set a Budget: Decide how much you can afford to spend and stick to it. A clear budget helps prevent overspending and post-holiday debt.
  2. Make a Shopping List: Identify what you need or have planned to buy. Staying focused reduces the likelihood of impulse purchases.
  3. Compare Prices: Use tools like CamelCamelCamel or Google Shopping to ensure you’re getting the lowest price. Don’t rely solely on in-store signage or ads.
  4. Check Return Policies: Understand store policies for returns and exchanges, especially for high-ticket items. Watch for restocking fees or short return windows.
  5. Avoid Doorbuster Traps: These limited-quantity items are designed to lure shoppers but may not always be the best value. Don’t let flashy deals pressure you into quick decisions.
  6. Plan for Online Shopping: Many Black Friday deals are also available online. Shopping digitally lets you avoid crowds and makes price comparisons easier. Look for free shipping promotions or in-store pickup options to save even more.
  7. Watch for Hidden Costs: Account for shipping, warranties, and any additional fees that might apply to your purchases.

By shopping with a plan, you can maximize savings and avoid unnecessary debt.

Beyond Black Friday: Don’t Miss Other Deals

The savings don’t end on Black Friday. Here’s what’s next:

  • Small Business Saturday (November 30): Support local businesses while finding unique gifts and exclusive deals.
  • Cyber Monday (December 2): Online retailers often offer steep discounts, particularly on tech, fashion, and subscription services.

Spreading out your purchases across these events ensures you don’t miss any opportunities for savings while staying within your budget.

Smart Shopping for a Debt-Free Holiday

Black Friday is a golden opportunity to save money, but the key to success is shopping strategically. By focusing on what to buy, avoiding unnecessary purchases, and following a plan, you can maximize your savings without straining your finances.

Remember, the holiday season is about joy and celebration—not financial stress. Shop wisely this Black Friday, enjoy the savings, and enter the holidays with financial confidence and peace of mind.

References:

About the Author

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Rick Munster

Rick Munster is a personal finance expert and author with over 21 years of experience in the credit counseling industry. He currently serves on the board of directors for the Financial Counseling Association of America and has written over 200 articles on personal finance. Rick's expertise has been recognized by several prominent online organizations, which have quoted him on issues related to credit counseling, debt management, and financial education. With more than 20 years of experience at Money Fit, a non-profit credit counseling organization, Rick has established himself as a trusted authority in the field of personal finance.
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You hereby authorize and instruct Debt Reduction Services, Inc. (DRS, dba Money Fit by DRS) and/or its assigned agents to:
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Client Privacy, Data Security, and Client Rights Policy

NOTE: This sheet is to inform new or returning clients about our services, records, fees, and limitations that may affect you as a consumer of our services. This form also discloses how we might release your information to other agencies and/or regulators. If you do not understand a statement, please ask a Debt Reduction Services (DRS) counselor for assistance.

Debt Reduction Services, Inc. (DRS) has put into place policies and procedures to protect the security and confidentiality of your nonpublic personal information. This notice explains our online information practices and how we use and maintain your information to conduct our financial education and credit counseling sessions and to fulfill information and question requests. This privacy policy complies with federal laws and regulations.

To provide our financial education and credit counseling services, we collect nonpublic personal information about you as follows: 1) Information we receive from you, 2) Information about your transactions with us or others, and 3) Information we receive from your creditors or a consumer reporting agency. We do not share this information with outside parties.

We use non-identifying and aggregate information to better design our website and services, but we do not disclose anything that could be used to identify you as an individual.

You hereby authorize DRS, when necessary, to share your nonpublic personal, financial, credit, and any information that you provided (including any computations and assessments produced) with the following entities in order to help DRS provide you with appropriate counseling or guide you to appropriate services: third parties such as government agencies, your lender(s), your creditor(s), and nonprofit housing-related and other financial agencies as permitted by law, including the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

To prevent unauthorized access, maintain data accuracy, and ensure the correct use of information, we have put in place appropriate physical, electronic, and managerial procedures to safeguard and secure the information we collect online. We limit access to your nonpublic personal information to our employees, contractors and agents who need such access to provide products or services to you or for other legitimate business purposes.

Debt Reduction Services, Inc. complies with the privacy requirements set forth in the HUD housing counseling agency handbook 7610.1 (05/2010), including the sections 2-2 Mc, 3-1 H(2), 3-3, 5-3 F, and Attachment A.5. At all times, we will comply with all additional laws and regulations to which we are subject regarding the collection, use, and disclosure of individually identifiable information.

  1. Services: DRS provides the following housing-related services: counseling that includes Homeless Assistance, Rental Topics, Pre-purchase/Homebuying, and Home Maintenance and Financial Management for Homeowners (Non-Delinquency Post-Purchase); Education courses that include Financial literacy (including home affordability, budgeting, and understanding use of credit), Predatory lending, loan scam or other fraud prevention, Fair housing, Rental topics, Pre-purchase homebuyer education, Non-delinquency post-purchase workshop (including home maintenance and/or financial management for homeowners), and other workshops not listed above.

Please refer to DebtReductionServices.org for details of our services.

  1. Limits: Our services are limited to our normal weekday business hours. We do not provide individual counseling or education services after hours or on weekends, although our education courses are available 24/7.
  2. Fees: We do not charge fees for our financial management counseling and education. However, if you use them, you may have to pay for our Debt Management Program, Student Loan Counseling, Bankruptcy Certificate Services or certain financial education courses (homebuyer education, rental topics, fair housing, predatory lending, and post-purchase-non-delinquency including home maintenance and/or financial management for homeowners).
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  4. Confidentiality: We respect your privacy and offer our services in confidence with the understanding that we may share such information with auditors and government regulators. Certain laws or situations may also lead to disclosing confidential issues, such as those involving potential child abuse or neglect, threats to harm self or others, or court subpoenas.
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  6. Disclosure of Policies and Practices: You will be provided our agency disclosure statement.
  7. Sharing of Information: Sometimes we will need to contact other agencies or we may need to share your information, including your records, with other agencies or with regulators. We will do this only if you sign this form that gives us permission except for limited reasons; please see # 5 above for examples of such situations.
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You acknowledge that this authorization will remain in effect for the duration of time that DRS serves as your housing counselor or financial education provider. You also acknowledge that should you wish to terminate this authorization, you will notify DRS in writing.

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Disclosure to Client for HUD Housing Counseling Services

Debt Reduction Services, Inc. and its financial education arm, Money Fit by DRS, offer the following housing counseling and educational services related to housing, personal finance, and bankruptcy certificates to consumers:
  • Housing Education Courses: DRS offers many online self-guided education programs classified as Financial, Budgeting, and Credit Workshops (FBC), Fair Housing Pre-Purchase Education Workshops (FHW), Homelessness Prevention Workshops (HMW), Non-Delinquency Post Purchase Workshops (NDW), Predatory Lending Education Workshops (PLW), Pre-purchase Homebuyer Education Workshops (PPW), and Rental Housing Workshops (RHW). These courses help participants increase their knowledge of and skills in personal finance, including home affordability, budgeting, and understanding the use of credit, as well as predatory lending, loan scams, and other fraud prevention topics, fair housing, rental topics, pre-purchase homebuyer education, non-delinquency post-purchase topics including home maintenance and/or financial management for homeowners, homeless prevention workshop, and other workshops not listed above relating to personal finance and housing. Course details are found below under “Housing Workshops.”
  • Home Equity Conversation Mortgage (HECM) Counseling (RMC): Via telephone and virtual platforms, we offer the required HECM counseling nationwide in addition to in-person counseling in Boise, Idaho. We also offer in-home counseling options in thirty counties across southern Idaho for an additional fee to cover our travel and additional staff time costs.
  • Home Maintenance and Financial Management for Homeowners (Non-Delinquency Post-Purchase) (FBC): Clients receive counseling and materials on the proper maintenance of their home and mortgage refinancing. Clients can find help and resources by phone, in our Boise office, or virtually on all topics related to stabilizing their long-term homeownership.
  • Services for Homeless Counseling (HMC): Clients receive phone, virtual, or in-person (Boise) counseling to evaluate their current housing needs, identify barriers to and goals for housing stability, establish a path to self-sufficiency, and connect with emergency shelters, income-appropriate housing, and/or other community resources (e.g. mental healthcare, job training, transportation, etc.).
  • Pre-Purchase Counseling (PPC): Clients receive counseling through the entire homebuying process. Assistance may involve creating a sustainable household budget, understanding mortgage options, building their credit rating, and putting together a realistic action plan to set and achieve homeownership goals.  Additionally, clients will receive materials and resources about home inspections and other homeownership topics relevant to successfully maintaining a home.
  • Rental Housing Counseling (RHC): Via phone, in-person appointments (Boise, ID), or virtual platforms, clients receive housing counseling relevant to renting, including rent subsidies from HUD or other government and assistance programs. Topics can also address issues and concerns having to do with fair housing, landlord and tenant laws, lease terms, rent delinquency, household budgeting, and finding alternate housing.
DRS also offers the following services:
  • A Debt Management Program (DMP) for consumers struggling to pay their credit cards, collections, medical debts, personal loans, old utility bills, and past-due cell phone accounts;
  • The Budget Briefing and Debtor Education Certificates that are required during the Bankruptcy filing process;
  • A Student Loan Repayment Plan Counseling and application service.

Relationships with Industry Partners

Through such services, DRS has established financial relationships with hundreds of banks, credit unions, and creditors such as American Express, Bank of America, Barclays, Capital One, Chase, Citibank, Credit One, Discover, Synchrony, US Bank, USAA, Wells Fargo, and others.

No Client Obligation

The client is not obligated to receive, purchase or utilize any other services offered by DRS or its exclusive partners to receive financial education or housing counseling services. Alternatives: As a condition of our counseling services, in alignment with meeting our client services goals, and in compliance with HUD’s Housing Counseling Program requirements, we may provide information on alternative services, programs, and products available to you, if applicable and known by our staff. Alternative DMP services include negotiating better repayment terms directly with your individual creditors, paying your debts as agreed, or, in extreme cases, filing for personal bankruptcy. Alternative credit and education services can be found through MyMoney.gov or the Jump$tart Clearinghouse of online financial education resources. Housing counseling alternatives can be found through HUD at www.hud.gov/findacounselor.
Finally, you understand that you may revoke consent to these disclosures by notifying DRS in writing.
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Housing Counseling and Education Fee Schedule

 

Online Education Program Fees*

Homebuyer Education Course: $59 per participant

  • Self-paced course available here, our online housing counseling and education center. Certificates will be automatically generated upon completion of the course (approximately 6-8 hours)

Rental, Fair Housing, Predatory Lending / HOEPA, Post-Purchase (Non-delinquency post-purchase workshop, including home maintenance and/or financial management for homeowners) Online Workshops: $49 per participant

  • Approximately 1 hour each

Other Self-Guided Financial Literacy Webinars (e.g. credit, budgeting, homeless prevention, debt prevention): $0

One-on-one Counseling Fees*

Pre-purchase Homebuying Counseling, Rental Counseling, Post-purchase Ownership Maintenance and Financial Management: $75

  • Session by the hour

Reverse Mortgage/HECM Counseling with Required Certificate:

  • $200†

Credit Report Fee: Paid Directly by Client

*Fees for all but our online education courses and workshops can be paid online by debit card, credit card, or PayPal or in person by cash, check or money order to: “Debt Reduction Services, Inc.” Registration fees are non-refundable 24 hours or less before the start of an in-person course or workshop. Certificates are non-transferable

*Fees may be waived for households with income of 150% or less of that identified on the US Department of Health and Human Services Poverty Guidelines Page

†Home visit counseling is available in 30 southern Idaho counties for potential HECM borrowers at additional costs to cover our travel (IRS reimbursement rates apply) and staff time ($50 per hour or fraction there).

Close

Housing Counseling and Education Fee Schedule

 

Online Education Program Fees*

Homebuyer Education Course: $59 per participant

  • Self-paced course available here, our online housing counseling and education center. Certificates will be automatically generated upon completion of the course (approximately 6-8 hours)

Rental, Fair Housing, Predatory Lending / HOEPA, Post-Purchase (Non-delinquency post-purchase workshop, including home maintenance and/or financial management for homeowners) Online Workshops: $49 per participant

  • Approximately 1 hour each

Other Self-Guided Financial Literacy Webinars (e.g. credit, budgeting, homeless prevention, debt prevention): $0

One-on-one Counseling Fees*

Pre-purchase Homebuying Counseling, Rental Counseling, Post-purchase Ownership Maintenance and Financial Management: $75

  • Session by the hour

Reverse Mortgage/HECM Counseling with Required Certificate:

  • $200†

Credit Report Fee: Paid Directly by Client

*Fees for all but our online education courses and workshops can be paid online by debit card, credit card, or PayPal or in person by cash, check or money order to: “Debt Reduction Services, Inc.” Registration fees are non-refundable 24 hours or less before the start of an in-person course or workshop. Certificates are non-transferable

*Fees may be waived for households with income of 150% or less of that identified on the US Department of Health and Human Services Poverty Guidelines Page

†Home visit counseling is available in 30 southern Idaho counties for potential HECM borrowers at additional costs to cover our travel (IRS reimbursement rates apply) and staff time ($50 per hour or fraction there).