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If you’re reading this, you already know about Black Friday As a shopping event. What you may not know is how much work goes into making sure you don’t have to endlessly scroll through pages of fake deals and marketing nonsense to get to things that are actually worth buying.
As an aspiring writer, I was obsessed with technology and sharing what I thought was cool with the world. Black Friday was a great time to upgrade something in my home on the cheap. Now, after 15 years of experience, I’m CNET’s Director of Shopping Content because I love making sure our audience is able to spend money on things that will actually improve their lives.
To achieve this, my team and I spent the entire month of November preparing for this event. Here are some of the things I rely on to keep you safe throughout the month.
1. Caffeine
There are so many Alani Nu flavors that I love, but the holiday versions are always fun.
You’d be hard-pressed to find a tech writer who isn’t at least a little obsessed with caffeine, and we all have deep opinions about the best way to get your caffeine fix. I’m not really a coffee fan, which means most days you’ll find me at my desk with a cup of tea. But for Black Friday, I need something a little stronger.
I’m personally a fan of Alani Nu energy drinks, and this time of year, there’s usually a holiday flavor to enjoy. This year it’s called Winter Wonderland, and it tastes like cranberries and sugar plums. All of these cans contain 200mg, so be careful if you don’t normally consume a lot of caffeine.
2. A good pair of headphones
You wouldn’t normally find me at my desk without my headphones on, but I tend to work weird hours this time of year, so headphones become even more important. If I’m working while my partner is sleeping, there’s a good chance The Lord of the Rings is playing in the background while the Roku app sends the audio directly to my ears. I enjoy the background ambience of my favorite movie trilogy, and no one else in the house hears anything at all.
Our headphones expert, David Carnoy, spends most of his waking hours thinking about what makes a good pair of headphones and He keeps an excellent list of those he recommends. I personally enjoy my JBL Tune One M2 headphones for this sort of thing. I find them comfortable enough to wear all day, the battery life is great, and they sound great for the types of things I listen to regularly.
As it happens, these products are 50% off at Walmart right now.
3. Eat healthy snacks
While my younger self would have been perfectly happy with a big bag of chips from the store down the street and a late-night meal courtesy of DoorDash, which is fine every now and then, I found myself wanting something quick, delicious, and not terrible for me. Last year, I solved this problem by using Goodell’s macaroni and cheese boxes, because they contain a decent amount of protein and have a wide range of flavors. Add some diced tomatoes and your protein of choice to a Cacio e Pepe flavored bowl and you’ve got yourself a solid 2 a.m. meal. Ask me how I know.
This year, the Goodles team released individually served macaroni and cheese cups in two flavors. This means that now I’ll save more time and won’t have to think about portions and clean-up, but I haven’t sacrificed anything in terms of flavor and nutritional value. And at $2 per cup, it quickly became a great option for me.
4. Audio books
I love a good podcast, and I’ve actually read about wanting to watch movies through headphones. But the thing I listen to most throughout the day, whether I’m at my desk, at the gym, or just walking to the grocery store, is a good audiobook. Any type of book is great for me, but audiobooks with a full voice cast will grab my attention faster than most things. I’m currently working my way through Carl’s dungeon crawler serieswhich was a dramatic change of pace after listening to it Empire series.
I like to get a fair amount of my audiobooks through my local library, but if the waitlist for a book is particularly long, I’ll usually turn to Audible. Right now, there’s a deal for new subscribers, offering $1 a month for the first three months and a $20 credit to spend as you see fit. That’s four audiobooks for $3, which is a great way to spend $3, if you ask me.
5. Board games
When I’m not at my desk this time of year, I tend to stay away from screens more than I otherwise would. Instead of picking up the controller for a good few spins of Mario Kart World on my device Switch 2I’ll likely pick a new board game and invite a couple of friends to play with me. This is rarely a bad idea, and is a great way for someone working remotely to mentally separate work and home time when working unusual hours.
My colleague James Bricknell has An amazing list of his favorite board gameswhich I cannot recommend enough. However, I really enjoyed playing Elizabeth Hargrave’s Wingspan. It’s a slower-paced strategy game with beautiful art that anyone can play in just over an hour. I’ve been reaching for this game a lot and will likely continue to do so until Hargrave’s next game, Sanibel, comes out in January.