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My first experience with Black Friday shopping came during my senior year of high school. I needed a computer for college, and did not have much money to spend on it. A friend suggested buying one on Black Friday.
Armed with a sleeping bag, a camping chair, and layers of warm clothing, I started my first Thanksgiving night campout. The store would not open for another eight hours, but they only guaranteed that each store would have ten of the computers I wanted. Several hours later I went home with a brand new computer at a fraction of its original cost. All of that excitement had me hooked. I knew right then and there that Black Friday shopping would be an annual event and I eventually convinced the rest of my family to join me.
Here are 4 Reasons You Should Consider Making Black Friday a Tradition for Your Family:
1. Together Time
Black Friday shopping is an exciting time for parents and their children to be together. Opportunities for you to enjoy your family abound—in the car as you travel to different stores, standing in line, and as you hunt for your next purchase. Even those who are not usually shoppers find themselves getting into Black Friday for this reason.
Every year my Dad and my husband try to talk their way out of joining us for this shopping event — and every year they end up coming along after all, simply because they do not want to miss out on the rest of us having a great time without them! Husbands can take a few years off if there are young children in your family, but when the kids are old enough, you’ll find this is a great time of togetherness for people of all ages.
2. Saving Money
If your budget is anything like mine, you are always looking for ways to save money. We begin saving for Christmas in January, so by the end of November we have everything we need to buy a nice gift for everyone on our list. Shopping on Black Friday allows us to upgrade many of those gifts while not spend any more money than we had planned. Retailers lower prices significantly on this one day of the year and it is to your advantage to capitalize on those prices.
