Black Friday: A little planning can keep out the red

A little history: "Black Friday" didn't always mean toss-us-your-money-so-we-remain-in-the-black; no. The terms dates as far back as the nineteenth century when it was used to refer to the financial crisis of 1869. Then, in the early 1980s, an economic theory claimed that retailers operated at a loss—or in the red—during the rest of year, and when the day after Thanksgiving arrived, heralding the start of the holiday shopping season, the stores could now operate in the black—for profit. And so Black Friday morphed into a different meaning altogether.

That's all well and good, but the whole thing is dumped on its head when you're talking about US, the shoppers, who end up going into the red this time of year; it's just a fact. But you know, there are some measures we can take to minimize and maybe even dilute the damage. As with a lot of financial issues, planning is key.

First off, how about doing a budget? Even if the thought of budgets makes you want to zip right out of the room, why not a temporary budget—one just for holiday shopping? I found a Christmas Gift Budget but Office Templates has more than a hundred budget templates and probably any one of them could be customized for what you need.

Next, get your lists all together. Trying to keep track of scraps of paper while you're lumbering around with unwieldy packages, not getting enough oxygen from the canned mall air is not the smartest way to go. Wouldn't you know it, we have a veritable list of list templates to help out with that, too (including a Secret Santa Wish List).

Regarding cards, if you have even the modicum of friends and family you're sending holiday cards out to, you know how expensive that can get. How about considering creating your own cards? The template you choose will provide the art and the layout (and even the sentiment, if you find yourself stuck). And once you've done that, head over to our Holiday Mailing Made Easy site, where you'll get tips and ideas about creating and printing mailing labels, mail merge (check out this step-by-step guide), and even holiday party planning.

Listen, if you're getting up at the crack of Homer's rosy-fingered dawn in order to drag yourself and your resentful spouse to stand in line at Target, you owe it to yourself and your family to come armed with a budget and a list. Then perhaps, at the end of the holidays, your finances may look rosy (even if your eyes are, too).

And finally, I don't want to read about you caught in some Walmart stampede trying to get the last one this year's equivalent of Tickle me Elmo. (And anyway, after two days of non-stop electronic giggling, you'll find yourself whispering nasty things in Elmo's ear to stop him in his tracks.) 

Crabby's Find of the Day: 10 toys not likely to be on wish lists (Maybe they weren't targeted to the right consumers?)

— Crabby