How to save big on Black Friday

I love Thanksgiving because I am looking forward to save big on Black Friday shopping.  This year, some stores call this big shopping event Black November or month long Black Friday event. Since I am on a fixed disability income, I have to watch how I spend my money.  Anyway, here is how I save big using my 3-step secret shopping technique as mention in my previous post.

 I have been thinking to buy a larger screen TV for the past few months because the remote for my 37-inch LCD TV is broken and I want a TV that can stream online content, like YouTube and Amonzon Prime video.  So when Walmart had the 50-inch Samsung Plasmas TV on pre Black Friday sales for less than $450 ($200 off), I was very interested in buying one.  But wait,I want to save even more, so I put my secret technique to use.

Step 1:  I asked myself do I really need this widget?  My TV is still in good condition other than a broken remote.  Unlike the Samsung TV, my current TV has all kind of connectors to connect to my other devices.  The Samsung TV only has couple of HDMI port and one component video port, so I would not able to use my VCR and my older video game console.  But I still want to watch online content.

Step 2:  Is there an alternative solution?  Yes, I could get an universal replacement remote for $10.  I could also get a low end Roku streaming device for $40 to watch online content. While a larger screen would be nice, but I don’t want to throw out a working TV for that.

Step 3:  I slept on it for couple of days to go over step one and two.  Finally, I decided the alternate solution is good enough for me.  So, instead spending $450, I only spent $50, saving of $400.

Update November 2015,  I finally bought a Samsung 48" TV at a very good price.

Hay…I just saw a multi-core PC on sales too.  Let me exercise the shopping technique again.

In summary, the secret of saving big is not to do impulse buying.

 

 Happy Thanksgiving and happy shopping, feel free to use my technique to save big. ☺