Black Friday.

I love it.

With four kids, a husband, (Me, LOL) and countless family and friends to buy for, I count on Black Friday.

So, what tips do I have for you?

1) Pay attention to the ads. If you know you shop somewhere a lot, sign up for their emails. You’ll get first-hand deals all through the year, not just Black Friday.

2) Don’t use credit to shop. I’ve been there, done that, getting into debt to give my kids a good Christmas. It takes longer and costs more to pay off, so really, it’s a BAD idea…. unless…

3) Since I only have a limited amount of money saved up for Christmas, cause, you know, all the year round bills, I capitalize on Intrest Free credit cards.

– Home Depot is 0% for 6 months if you spend $299 or more. Do I need $300 worth of presents from them? Usually, no. They let you buy gift cards using credit, so that’s what I do. Then, next month when I need to buy something from HD, guess what? Yup. Gift cards.

-Amazon.com is 0% for 6 months if you spend $149 or more. I don’t know about gift cards, but I can always spend that much there between books for everyone in the family, friends, (Again, Me)…

-Walmart is running a special right now 0% for 6 months on ANY purchases made in Nov & Dec. I admit, I didn’t have a Walmart card, but when I saw this, I got one. Why? They had a high ticket item (XBox 360 Kinects bundle, which is good out-of-your-seat & family game play for the whole family). As soon as I pay it off, I’ll close the card.

Now, KEY: I’m not advocating using credit cards for Christmas shopping. (See #2)

But, if you’re like me and don’t have a hefty chunk of money for Black Friday, then shop wisely.

ANOTHER NOTE: If you’re approved for a $2500 card, PLEASE, PLEASE, don’t use it all.

You still have to pay it off, and in order to capitalize on the 0% interest, you must pay it off in the time allotted. Tonight (cause I do a lot of shopping online on Thanksgiving day – see sign up for emails) I purchased the majority of gifts I’ll be buying this year, through Amazon.com which has killer deals and usually reads ads so they can match your local sales, and Walmart (RE: Big item). I spent $400.

In order to pay that off in 6 months, it will cost me about $67 a month.

Yeah, I can afford that.

But I couldn’t afford to pay interest.

So, that’s my little bit of advice.

Now for the good stuff:

Welcome to our Black Friday blog hop! See below for the huge list of prizes!

One random commenter (can be on any of the blogs) will win a Kindle Fire, along with all the prizes below! That’s the easiest kind of shopping I can think of…

Prizes:

– Cassandra Carr: copy of either of my two current releases, Talk to Me or Head Games
– Kristabel Reed: back list copy of one of her stories and then on her own blog a $10 GC plus a copy of her newest release, Risque, a Regency Menage Tale
– Lucy Felthouse: back list copy of any of her single-title books
– Cari Quinn: back list copy of one of her books
– Leigh Elwood: two back list copies of her books
– Natasha Blackthorne: copies of her two Regency era novellas: Grey’s Lady and Waltz of Seduction
– Amber Kallyn: e-copy of Dragos 1

– Camryn Rhys: Kindle copies of The Barn Dance and Off the Record – Foodie Erotic Romances
– Lissa Matthews: two of her back list books
– Misa Buckley: an e-copy of Ironhaven and To Reach the Dawn
– Lacey Wolfe: a copy of Ambers Muse
– Courtney Sheets: a $25 GC to Ravenous Romance and a copy of Kona Warrior – PDF
– Sara Brookes: an e-copy of one of my back list books
– Cynthia Arsuaga: a copy of an e-book, and on her own blog five book charm book tethers
– Louisa Bacio: .pdf copy of my first book in The Vampire, The Witch & The Werewolf series, and on her own blog a $10 certificate to Ravenous Romance, and each commenter will also be entered to win a Goody Bag of new Orleans treats
– Malia Mallory: one copy each of The ABC’s of Erotica and Santa’s Back Door Baby
– Cynthia Eden: a copy of Angel of Darkness (either print or digital)
– Carrie Ann Ryan: an e-copy of The Alpha’s Path
– Jacquie Rogers: a Smashwords coupon for Faery Merry Christmas, plus on her own blog, a free copy of Much Ado About Marshals

– KT Grant: a print copy of Sweet and Sinful and an ebook copy of my next release, Xavier’s Loving Arms

So what are the rules? Simple: visit as many of the blogs as you can and leave a comment for the blog owner. For every comment, you’ll get one entry into the grand-prize drawing. Be sure to leave your e-mail address with every comment so we can find you if you win! And don’t forget that several blog owners are giving away prizes specific to their blog, too!

One winner will be chosen on Saturday morning using random.org. I will contact that person about the Kindle Fire and then each blog owner with a prize will contact the winner themselves to arrange delivery of said prize. Questions? Contact AuthorCassandraCarr AT gmail DOT com.

Good luck and Happy Thanksgiving everybody!

Click here to see & comment on the other participating Blogs 🙂