5 Tips For Black Friday

I admit it, I think Black Friday shopping is kind of fun, up to a point.  Here are some tips to help you get through it.  Remember, whatever you do, don't fight with some knucklehead, it is not worth it.  Especially old lady knuckleheads...don't ask how I know.


1) Have an overall detailed plan

This is the biggest key to success.  Make a list of items wanted at each store.  Then make a route plan of each store you will go to.  Prioritize and stick to your plan, if they don't have the item you came for, move on.  This is not the day to come up with an alternative gift. You can sometimes go a few days before and see where the items are to get the plan together.

2) Take a partner

A partner is great for scouting and retrieving priority items.  You can split the store in half and cover the area in much less time.  Take your cell phones and look out for each other.

3) Don't overspend

Keep your wits, don't get caught up in all of the hype.  That is exactly what retailers are hoping you do.  They will get you used to spending and hope you open your wallet to them.  Stay focused!  If you need financial tips, checkout my other site....largefamilyfinances.blogspot.com

4) Save the unfamilar for last

 This is not the day to window shop.  If you are going to a new store, save that one for last, or go with someone that already knows the ropes.  Save these stores for last.  Treat it as a learning experience for next year.

5) Shop Online

Do it the easy way.  Stay at home and skip the crowds and the stress, but stick to your plan. Many retailers are giving codes for extra savings online.  Check out the Kohl's ad below:




May the force be with you...

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Organization time!

 With six kids and an extremely  hot wife, I am easily distracted and struggle keeping things organized.  It is probably one our biggest downfalls as a family.  This weekend we came together and started to change things for the better.

Our first step in this process is to organize the entry or "foyer" in our home.  After all this is the first thing that everyone sees when they walk into our house.  With so many kids and our busy lifestyle, our foyer is a mess!  There were shoes, coats, jackets, umbrellas, sweatshirts from all of the kids that would get strewn everywhere.

The entry of our house is way to small to keep all eight of our "going out" things together.  We had to come up with a better solution.


We have a space in our house that is completely wasted.  Realtors like to call it a "sun porch".  I like to call it a dumpy area that we never go into that stores some of our remodeling remnants.  This place was bad!! It had green '80s astro turf and the roof leaked badly.  I patched up the roof several months ago thinking it could eventually be a useful space.  Don't get me wrong, there is still so much more we have to do to get it ready for prime time, but now that it is dry, it will make an excellent mud room.

Here is a picture of the rough plan.

Here is a very bad picture of the plan we have sketched out

That is exactly what our kids need.  A MUD room!  Four boys and one little girl that could beat up any boy make a big mess!  So we are converting our sun porch to a mud room  From sun to mud, sounds glamorous doesn't it?  No, no, no, this is my wonderful life, you can't have it!  :)



So, first the clean out.  That was a Waste Management Bagster and a Saturday afternoon.  There was a lot of help from my hot wife and little girly.  It was not fun, but we accomplished fairly quickly. We can now walk in the mud room!  Next, cut out the 80's astro turf.  I felt like Nolan Ryan walking on that stuff, that is the only reason I will miss it.

Next, we purchased some shelves much like these and some crates to stack on the shelves.  Every child has their own crate to store their shoes.  We also have crates for hats and gloves and other winter type clothes.  We have another bin for shoes to grow into, the hand me downs that we are saving for the smaller kids.  Another crate for jackets that are not in use. Yet another crate for our wonderful pet cat Moe. It is not big enough to store his attitude, but that is another story. We also added several hooks for coats and backpacks for everyday kid living.

We are planning a small bench for the kids to sit on while tending to their shoes. We plan for the bench to have even more storage.  We are still working on what else we can organize out there.  Comments/suggestions are appreciated.

Here is a picture of the work in progress...

Next (in the future) we have to scrub and paint the concrete floor and replace the entry door and lock with one of the combination deadbolts  the older kids can use. Then long term, we need to replace the siding and the windows.  One project leads to another!  It feels great, we are making progress and simplifying our lives. Do you have some organization projects in your future?  Please support our blog and check out my favorite place to shop and get ideas for storage and organization here.

 

If you like this post and think it would be valuable to someone you know, please share it on the social network of your choice for me, okay? All you have to do is click one of the buttons below. Then add me to your Google+ circles. Thanks --Rick    http://gplus.to/rickbolt

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