November is a great month for bargains. Black Friday happens this month after all, and the supposed single-day sale holiday seems to get stronger and go longer every year. Plus, online retailers like to keep you guessing and may drop a worthy deal on any given day.
Your strategy to save money this month? Review your budget, make a list of what you want and remember to ABC: always be checkin’ (or just set deal alerts) for discounts. Consult this Nerdy list of the best things to buy and skip in November, too.
Buy: Electronics
Black Friday, which falls on Nov. 29 this year, is synonymous with great deals on gadgets, but you may not have to wait until the end of the month to get the goods you’re after. Jane Boyd Thomas, a professor of marketing at Winthrop University, says she’s noticed retailers are getting an early jump on technology deals.
“We know that a lot of spending on Black Friday is self-giving, not gift-giving,” says Thomas. And with consumers still dealing with high prices in non-discretionary categories like food and fuel, retailers can entice shoppers to spend discretionary dollars with deals that come early and often.
Look for markdowns on TVs, tablets, laptops, gaming systems, smartwatches and smartphones at all the usual places — Amazon, Walmart, Best Buy, Target and Costco — between now and Black Friday.
Skip: Bedding and linens
Need a thicker comforter for the cold months? January is just around the corner, and it’s your best bet for a deal on bedding and linens. Stores promote bedding discounts, called white sales, at the beginning of each year as a way to bring shoppers into their home departments.
In past years, bedding basics were slashed by 50% or more at stores like JCPenney, Macy’s and Pottery Barn. We expect similar savings again in 2025.
Buy: Vacuums
Aside from spring cleaning season, November might be the best time to add a new vacuum cleaner to your closet. We usually see vacuum models from Dyson, Shark, Bissell, Hoover and more on sale during Black Friday events.
At NerdWallet, we tracked prices on a handful of products during major sale days. The iRobot Roomba i5 vacuum had a lower price on Black Friday 2023 than on Amazon’s Prime Day in July of this year. Expect sweeping sales on high-tech sweepers to land at the end of the month.
Skip: Clothes
This is unconventional, but to save money you may want to wait on apparel — especially items like shoes, hats, coats and gloves — says Thomas.
“As we get closer to Christmas, I think the deals on those are going to be better and better,” she says.
November, especially Black Friday, isn’t a bad time to buy clothes, but larger retailers that hold a lot of stock could be eager to offload unsold items as the gift-giving season gets closer. Stores like Gap, Anthropologie and Ann Taylor are likely to have more inventory than one-off boutique clothing stores, “so you have a better chance of getting what you want by playing the ‘wait game’ there,” says Thomas.
Buy: Air fryers and coffee makers
Air fryers burst onto the scene around 2017, and the versatile cookers are still hot. Black Friday is a good time to go after these hot products, or you could score a deal on any given day in November.
I found an Instant Vortex Plus air fryer for half off list price on Nov. 5 last year. The shiny stainless steel model caught my eye while at a friend’s house for dinner one evening. I checked Amazon when I got home and couldn’t pass up the $69.95 price. At the time of this writing, it retails for $139.95. I got a Black Friday price on a random Sunday in November.
What else is hot in November? Coffee makers. Look for great deals on Nespresso, Keurig and other popular coffee maker brands in November, especially on Black Friday. On the other hand, you may want to roll the dice and wait for Cyber Monday — which falls on Dec. 2 this year — for other kitchen gadgets. We’ve seen items like the KitchenAid Classic Series stand mixer reach a lower price on Cyber Monday than on Black Friday at Amazon and Target.
Skip: Specialty food items
You know that meat and cheese board or tin filled with peppermint bark you send to family when you run out of time and gift ideas? According to Thomas’ advice, you can keep specialty treats as your backup plan.
Retailers may not be motivated to move items quickly because seasonal treats tend to have a long shelf life and people often send them as last-minute gifts, she says.
Bonus: Veterans Day
Veterans Day doesn’t pack the shopping punch of Black Friday. Still, here are some bonus ways to save a buck on Nov. 11.
If you serve or have served in the military, ask about special discounts at stores, restaurants and even barbershops. For example, Rack Room Shoes will offer a 20% discount (normally 10%) to current and former U.S. military members and their dependents. Sport Clips is doing free haircuts for vets and active duty military at participating locations on Veterans Day.
Whether you’ve served in the military or not, you can visit one of the U.S. National Parks that typically charges an entrance fee for free on Veterans Day.
Plan ahead and protect yourself on pre-Black Friday purchases
Mobile shopping and dynamic pricing (e.g., the random air fryer deal I found on Nov. 5) make it all too easy to spend on a whim. Go into November knowing what you want to buy and how much you’re willing to spend on a given item.
If you know what you want, you can monitor and compare prices throughout the month, says Thomas. You can use a site like Slickdeals.net to set deal alerts for price drops all over the internet or use a price tracker like CamelCamelCamel for alerts on products sold on Amazon.
And if you buy something in November, but before Black Friday, you’ll want to check the retailer’s price-matching, price-protection and return policies first. For example, Amazon’s site specifically states that because the retailer strives to maintain competitive prices, it does not offer price matching.
Be sure to dig into the details, too. Best Buy’s price match guarantee, for example, excludes items for sale Nov. 21 through Dec. 2 this year.
Thomas’ advice: Let the store’s policy help you decide whether to take the deal now or risk it and wait for a better one on Black Friday.
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Tommy Tindall writes for NerdWallet. Email: ttindall@nerdwallet.com.
The article What to Buy (and Skip) in November 2024 originally appeared on NerdWallet.
