It’s our favourite time of year! IT’s Black Friday season, and that means discounted and free plugins! We’ve seen a range of deals so far, from Waves to Brainworx, and even iZotope releasing great value plugins.

With this in mind, we thought we’d create a guide to help you budget yourself so that your bank account doesn’t end up hating you like mine did last year.

Create a Budget and Don’t Strrat Stray From It

It may be that time of the year for Black Friday, but it’s also November – and that means it’s Christmas next month!

So we should allow be sensible, like adults, and consider how much money we actually have and how much money we can afford to spend on plugins.

Be careful and void debt too. Slashing your credit card, overdraft or a loan is a dangerous way to go about Black Friday. We know that it may be tempting, but don’t get yourself into debt unless you’re 200% confident that you can get yourself out of it.

List the Plugins You Want

Now, with your budget in mind, make a list of the plugins that you need/want. Do this before the sales actually begin so that you have a strong idea of your needs before the green light appears. This will stop you from just splashing the cash on any old plugin. You’ll actually thank yourself for doing this, and you may even discover you need less than you think. Your bank account will thank you too.

It could be a valuable idea to have a peep at what plugins went on sale last year. Audio Plugin Guy Black Friday Deals always provides a detailed list of Black Friday deals. It’s even helped me decide what plugins I’m on the hint for this year.

Monitor Plugin Deals Lists and Social Groups

And on that note, be mindful that there will be a lot of sites attempting to keep watch for the best plugin deals. Again, Audio Plugin Guy Black Friday Deals will probably be the best at this. Their team are well connected and have a lot of experience, so stay tuned with those guys.

A Facebook group to watch is Audio Plugin Deals and Freebies Facebook Group. Like Audio Plugin Guy, this social page gets daily updates of new deals. You’ll be able to catch all of the best flash sales with notifications telling you what’s happening in the group. It’s a public group so a Facebook account isn’t even needed to browse.

Listen to Advice

The Audio Plugin Deals and Freebies Facebook Group pack 50,000 members. These members come from a variety of backgrounds with a plethora of different experience levels. And, like the best Facebook groups, it’s growing quickly.

The merger of the experience and knowledge of a community such as this is invaluable to newcomers. A wide variety of people with informed opinions that they can back up with experience on the product and offers will help you decide if a particular plugin is what you’re looking for.

Be Patient…

Always be mindful of offer durations by taking note of end dates for the deals that take your fancy. There’s nothing to say you have to buy right away. And, of course, digital products don’t go out of stock. There’s no rush!

Keep your budget in mind at all times. Splashing the cash at every great offer isn’t keeping your budget in mind. I should know.

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