3 BIG Reasons to Stay Home On Black Friday!

Black Friday ... the biggest commercial shopping day of the year. I admit to having dragged out the front door before 4:00 am a couple of times to attend these hallowed events. Both times were extenuating circumstances -- the first time was mere days before our son deployed for Iraq, and we went together to finish out his laptop equipment and the gifts for our early Christmas. The next time was the following year, with Shawn still in Iraq, and his list of gifts for his fiance firmly grasped in my gloved hands.

Never again, I thought, and so far I've held fast. The economy has tanked many of us, and I firmly believe there is no better way to save money than to Not Spend it! I know all too well that when you allow yourself to go to these glorious sale events, you will always spend more than you planned. It's the unwritten law of retail. It happens and none of us are immune to it.

There are many, many reasons to stay home on Black Friday, and I'm going to outline 3 of them.

1. Most of you who beat a path to stand in mile-long lines have children at home. This is a day off for them, too, and is the perfect time for a special pancake breakfast, and the day spent pulling out the Christmas ornaments, or baking cookies. Those precious little ones are the very reason you use as an excuse to get wrapped up in the Black Friday madness to begin with, and I assure you they will remember a day spent with you doing 'holiday things' much longer than they will ever recall what you stood in line to purchase for them.

2. For those of us who are empty nesters, this is the perfect day to spend cleaning up after Thanksgiving, scrunging around for the Christmas card list, and catch up on our thoughts. This year, there's less than a month between Thanksgiving and Christmas, and there is plenty to prepare for ahead of the madness the next few weeks can bring. Rise early, savor your tea or coffee, pull out your notebook, and begin organizing your thoughts and to-do's.

3. Almost every single retail outlet you will frequent on this Black Friday has the exact same deals and bargains available online! And 9 times out of 10, those places offer FREE shipping right to your front door! Below is a short, tip of the iceberg listing of Black Friday deals that you can access Friday morning while you're sitting in your robe with that second cup of java.

I encourage you to do yourself, your family and your finances a favor: save the gas, go green, and do your shopping online this year!

BLACK FRIDAY DEALS!

GLORY & GRACE AT HOME: Shop from Thousands of toys, books, apparel, electronics, Wii, Guitar Hero, cell phones, MP3 players, DVDs, videos, home goods, and gourmet foods! FREE 2 day Shipping with Prime Club Membership!

SEARS.com While you're on the Sears.com site, Please Check Out the Make A Wish page, honoring our Military Families!

UWANTSAVINGS.com -- FREE SHIPPING! : Spend $50.00 or more at UWantSavings, and a $50.00 Gift Certificate to Restaurant.com* will automatically be sent to your eMail Address on the Friday following your purchase. This eMail will come directly from Restaurant.com with a link to Redeem Your Gift Certificate. Simply follow the easy step-by-step instructions from Restaurant.com and within minutes a $50 Gift Certificate to the restaurant of your choice will be printing!

 

ULTRA DIAMONDS.com: There are some fabulous trinkets here for moms, daughters, and spouses!

 

BUCKLE.com: Savings Up to 75% off at Buckle.com -- Fabulous Clothing for the Young Crowd! http://click.linksynergy.com/fs-bin/click?id=T/ZAlsaooC8&offerid=98462.10000447&type=3&subid=0" >Mens Look of the Week from Bucklehttp://ad.linksynergy.com/fs-bin/show?id=T/ZAlsaooC8&bids=98462.10000447&type=3&subid=0" >