5 Reasons Why You Shouldn't Shop on Black Friday

Black Friday is traditionally the day after Thanksgiving. It is a tradition where select stores open their doors before the sun comes up and offers massive discounts for a very short period of time. Most people wake up at ungodly hours to spend ungodly amounts of money only to be tired and out of it the rest of day, if not the weekend.

I personally am not an advocate of shopping on Black Friday at all, and in a minute I'm going to explain five reasons why I recommend you not shop on Black Friday. I guess for me, it's just not that serious. If you can, watch for sales throughout the year and do your Christmas shopping when sales are best. I prefer to enjoy my Thanksgiving weekend by being at home and relaxing because it's rare that I get two days out in the same week and still have a weekend off. I'd rather not spend one of those days getting up earlier than I normally would just to be among masses of people, some of which have no sense and act like the world is coming to an end if that don't get that Barbie doll.

Spare me.

Here are my five reasons to avoid (like the plague) shopping on Black Friday:

1. After that big Thanksgiving meal you had, do you REALLY think you'll want to get up that early the next day? Let's be realistic. You might overeat on Thanksgiving depending on how good the food was. You probably won't be at home, and on top of that you're among family and friends so you'll probably be catching up into the night. You won't feel like shopping that early the next day. Give up the dream.

2. Waking up at 4am to go shopping is not my idea of fun for a day off. Then spending it fighting with people is REALLY not my idea of fun for a day off. I'm not preferential to shopping in mass crowds, let alone mass crowds with no shame! On top of that I'm not getting up at 4am to do any kind of shopping unless it is a family emergency (baby not feeling well, wife not feeling well, something like that). If the sale is that good I should be able to buy it online and have them ship it to me, or I'll get it from the store later. This would be my preference.

3. Stores are going to have more sales between Black Friday and Christmas anyway, sometimes better ones, just be patient and wait it out. Black Friday is not the last chance to get that item on sale. You'll probably find just as good of a sale around early-to-middle December up until about the week before with the item still in decent stock. After December 18^th I don't recommend Christmas shopping either... the crowds wake up and go after what's left.

4. The best time to get Christmas presents is actually AFTER Christmas, not on Black Friday. If you really want to see some deals and see a good selection of items in stock... go shopping on December 26^th or December 27^th... maybe the 28^th as well. This is also the best time to get those Christmas decorations that you wanted a few days prior. You can buy them at about half off and save them until next year. My wife and I normally don't open our Christmas presents until New Year's Day so that gives us the luxury of waiting until the post-Christmas rush to actually open presents. We may still get each other something on the day, but the actual purposed gift-opening day for us is the beginning of the new year.

5. Not all stores have an ample or cash-back return policy, so given that Christmas is about 4 weeks (give or take) away from Black Friday it probably isn't wise to purchase Christmas gifts that you won't open or try out right away. Take this tip into consideration. If you buy a gift in late November, and don't open it or use it until late December, a month has passed. You may not be able to return it if something is wrong with it. If you must buy things on Black Friday, try it out right away. Some get so excited and just wrap up the present, not thinking that it may be faulty. I also don't recommend buying something on Black Friday at a store where you can't return it and get cash back, or at least an in-store credit. Those "final" sales are dangerous on Black Friday. You want something you can take back and get money back in return if need be.