Am I the only one who basically stops shopping around Labor Day until Black Friday/Thanksgiving weekend? I don’t see a point in buying things at full price when literally EVERYTHING goes on major sale at Black Friday. I think the only thing I’ve really bought in the past couple of months were a couple pieces of clothing items and makeup that I was out of.
I have shopped on Black Friday every year since college in some capacity. Some years, I’ve gone all out, but other years, when finances are a bit leaner, I’ll just grab some Christmas gifts on sale. More often than not, I almost always grab a throw blanket, Christmas decorations, comfy socks (love them in winter), and a few winter clothes/sweaters for the upcoming cold months.
This year, we’ve been anticipating some bigger purchases for Black Friday so we started putting some savings aside early to prepare for it. (Please remember that you NEVER have to go into debt just because there is a “holiday” centered around spending money – a sale isn’t worth anything if you can’t afford it.) There are some areas of our home that we’re looking to update/upgrade some pieces (like our kitchen) and some things – like our big upright vacuum that decided to die a couple of weeks ago – that just need to be replaced.
So, here’s some stuff that we’re looking at this year…
Like the trends we have seen the past couple of years, some stores are starting to roll out Black Friday deals early, so some purchases I may not necessarily wait until the actual holiday weekend if the deals are good enough. I always feel like, even when they roll stuff out early, sometimes the deals are still better if you are willing to hold out to the holiday weekend. But we’ll see.
A lot of what we’re looking for is kitchen-related, which likely surprises no one as Devon and I both spend a lot of our time in there and, like I said, it’s time to upgrade/replace some items.
I started switching our food storage over to glass (over plastic) earlier this year and I really want to try and add to that collection. Typically, when I take lunch to work now, it’s in glass, so our containers get used up pretty quickly. I’m not against keeping some plastic for certain things (particularly things that wouldn’t need to be warmed up in a microwave), but I do think that food lasts better in glass and, obviously, it’s easier to reheat things in glass.
We have a couple of 3-qt saucepans that we used VERY frequently and they are starting to show that wear. One of them, Devon is weirdly sentimental about, so while we probably won’t be able to get rid of that one (at least without him noticing) we do need to add/replace a couple of others. Black Friday is almost always a good time to invest in quality pieces without spending a fortune, and since we use these things often, I’m definitely looking for pieces that will last quite awhile.
I have been looking to update our dinnerware for awhile – we’ve had the same set since we started living together in 2014. Part of me is super picky and part of me just kind of cringes at the prices of some sets that I have seen. I’m not sure what kind of style I want. I saw this really pretty blue stoneware set on Bed, Bath and Beyond that I know Devon would like (as blue is his favorite color) but there is also this really pretty polka-dot set from Walmart that feels really fancy and I kind of like that. I mean, no one ever said I couldn’t get both, but we’ll see what the sales look like. I may find another set I like even better.
I love all of the space that our kitchen has, but even with all of that space, the storage situation leaves a bit to be desired. I have been wanting a sideboard/buffet situation for the back wall of our kitchen (next to the dining room) for awhile, but I have had such heart palpitations at the though of spending thousands of dollars on the style that I want. I don’t want something that is completely open or has all glass doors, because I ultimately want to use it for storage, and I don’t want to feel like I have to “style” it – I just want to be able to throw things in there and shut the doors.
I also want to work on reorganizing our pantry. I love that we have one, we didn’t have any room in our apartment for anything, so having a full pantry is lovely. I do want to try and make more/better use of the space, though, because I feel like we wind up throwing things on the bottom shelf or the top and there is never really any rhyme or reason to it and then we either can’t find things or things go bad before we use them because we forgot about it. So, I want to try and create some sort of system so we reduce waste and actually use more of what we have.
Outside of the kitchen, I want to try and look for some window treatments for our bedrooms. The ones we have up are the ones that originally came with the house and they just really aren’t us. The only thing I appreciate about them is that they are blackout curtains, which is wonderful for those of us with sleep issues. But, the style of them isn’t us. Eventually I want to revamp all of the window treatments in this house, but we’re going to start with those and see where we go from there.
I also want to try and find a few more rugs for various areas of the house. I wouldn’t mind a runner in the kitchen, something small for our front entry and a larger rug for our dining room. Devon has this belief that a dining room rug should encompass, literally, the entire room. I, on the other hand, think it needs to be bigger than the dining table, but not so big that it overtakes the room. So we’ll have to see who wins that one (likely me), but Black Friday is usually also a good time to make some rug purchases that won’t break the bank.
The past couple of years, I’ve typically grabbed a new winter coat from Old Navy during the holiday season. I love their peacoats/wool coats. They’re really nice quality, warm, and I don’t feel bad buying a new one every year or two because they aren’t expensive. I’m waiting to see if they actually come out with their traditional peacoat, but if they don’t, this oversized wool coat is also a really pretty option for this year.
While this isn’t a requirement, or really that high on my priority list, I wouldn’t mind looking for some new bedding. We did just get a new set last year, but for some reason it feels really dark and heavy in our room and I wouldn’t mind having something lighter. Since our stuff is in really good shape and relatively new, I’m not going to go out of my way to buy another one unless I absolutely love it and it’s a great price, but it’s just something I’m going to keep my eye out for, if I find something that works for me.
So, what are you shopping for this holiday season? Are there are any specific sales you’re looking at or any specific items you’re looking to shop for?
