I woke up at 5:15 this morning to do my Cyber Monday shopping.
Within an hour I had purchased everything on my holiday gift list while coming in $37.36 under budget.
(I also bought myself an Instant Pot, but well get to that.)
Set a budget
Yes, I know.
GO IN WITH THE BUDGET.
STICK TO THE BUDGET.
Remember, saving money on holiday shopping doesnt count if you go over budget.
No matter how irresistible the deal is.
Family, friends, pets, White Elephants, Secret Santas, you get the idea.
Ask yourself how many gifts each person (or pet) needs.
Some people get one gift.
Some people get multiple gifts.
Youll know your gift-giving culture better than I will.
Divide your budget by person and by gift.
A lot of you will already be familiar with this.
If you dont know what to buy someone, thats okay.
Youll take care of them during the Cyber Monday shopping process.
If possible, pre-game Cyber Monday by checking the prices of what you hope to buy in advance.
Put those prices into your holiday shopping list.
Avoid online storefronts
Do notand I repeatdo notgo to Amazon Dot Com.
Or Walmart Dot Com.
Or Best Buy Dot Com.
In many cases, theyll even be algorithmically customizedso youll see exactly what you didnt even know you wanted.
Stay far away from online storefronts on Cyber Monday.
That way, youll avoid as many ads, sales, countdowns, and purchase-inducing dark patterns as possible.
But I had also been survivingjust finewithout one for three years.
This is the one time you have permission to browse.
Here is my one request:
Put your personal purchases in a separate shopping cart.
Because mixing everything in the same cart makes it harder to tell how much youre spending.
(Yes, the Instant Pot fit into my personal budget for December.)
and then, two days later, open a package thats, like, 85% giftsfor you.
