Set Black Friday Price Alerts to Stay on Budget

Posted on November 21, 2025 by resourcefulman

The annual shopping holiday, Black Friday , is just around the corner. We’ll keep you updated on all the best deals throughout the holiday season. But before you buy anything, here’s how to set your own prices on Black Friday and beyond.

If you’re an impulse shopper, you know that events like Black Friday and Cyber Monday can be frustrating. While we know retailers use all sorts of manipulation techniques to get us to buy things we don’t need, it still works, so this year, try setting your own prices and choosing only the items you really want .

How to “Set Your Own Prices” on Amazon

You can’t force Amazon to lower prices at will, but you can set up an alert system that will notify you when the price of an item you’re interested in drops enough to justify the purchase. Below is a step-by-step guide to setting your own maximum price for any item sold on Amazon:

Identify the items you’d like to purchase and add them to your Amazon wishlist . Make sure your wishlist is set to “public.”
Visit the Amazon price tracking website CamelCamelCamel and create a free account. There are other price tracking apps and websites that do roughly the same thing —Slick Deals , Honey , Keepa , etc.—so if you want to compare them, check out this review of the best price tracking tools . Spoiler alert: for Amazon specifically, camelCamelCamel wins.
Click “Import Wishlist.” (You’ll need to copy and paste the URL from your Amazon Wishlist.)
CamelCamelCamel will then allow you to set maximum prices (or percentage discounts) for all items on your wishlist. Enter the maximum amount you’re willing to pay for each item on your list and set up an email to be sent when the price of any item drops to your specified spending limit.
Ignore all the hype and wait for an email notification that the items you’ve selected have dropped in price enough for you to buy them.
Spend Black Friday feeling smug and admit to yourself that you really are the smartest person in the world. Don’t even look at Amazon. Seriously. Well, maybe just for a second. This time, you’ll have enough willpower to resist buying another chocolate fountain or a self-stirring mug with “SELF STIRRING MUG” written on the side, right? Right?

How to set up price alerts for retailers not registered with Amazon

CamelaCamelCamel is a product available only on Amazon, but you can also use other price tracking services from other sellers. For example, Honey is PayPal’s service for retailers. It has a list of 10,000 supported sellers . By installing the Honey browser extension, you can add the item you want to buy from the seller to your list , and the app will notify you when the price drops to the level you set. You can also compare prices for the same item on different websites. Here’s how to set your own price:

What do you think at the moment?

Create an account on Honey.
Install the Honey browser extension.
Find the product you want to buy on the Honey website.
Click the “Add to List” button that appears on the product page.
Set the discount percentage you want to see.
Click “Add to List” to confirm your preferences.

Honey will then track the item and send you an email or push notification once the price drops to the amount you specified.

Additional ideas for limiting spending

If you’re looking to take your shopping experience beyond the basic “time to buy” alert system described above, here are some ideas.

Ad blocking : If you’re someone who frequently interacts with online ads, you can block many of them with a simple tool or app. Here’s our review of the best ad blocking software .
Track your spending: Whether you write it down with pencil and paper or use an app , tracking your expenses can be a powerful incentive to be more frugal. Planning a budget for the long term can even give you a small surplus that allows you to splurge on Black Friday if you’re feeling inspired.
Save for something : Saving money for something in the future—a vacation, a surfboard , whatever—can help you keep from spending now.
Hit your internal pause button: If you can develop the habit of waiting a day or two between thinking “I want those sunglasses” and entering your credit card information, you might decide that your old sunglasses are just fine.
Create a “one in, one out” system : get rid of a similar item (or even several!) to free up space. Knowing what to throw away if you click “Buy Now” will help you avoid impulse buys, and following this rule will help you keep your home clutter-free. Bonus points for reselling an item before you buy a similar one. Earn money before you spend it and save space.
Seek professional help : While it’s normal and common to occasionally struggle with spending, researchers say that about 6% of Americans suffer from compulsive buying behavior , which may be part of a larger psychological issue. So, if your spending is driving you into debt, if you’re experiencing real-life consequences related to your shopping habits, or if you simply believe shopping may be a problem for you, seek professional help.