Happy Thanksgiving!

The biggest rule to follow this Black Friday (say it with me, y’all): Don’t buy it if you wouldn’t get it without a markdown. If you wouldn’t buy a puffy purple polo match hat at full price, why do you need it at a 70% discount? Would you even be happy if you got it as a gift? Nope. Chuck it outta your cart.

On the other hand, retailers have a lot of stuff they want to get rid of....

So, while discounts might be extra attractive this week, and worth taking advantage of, focus on things you need (and holiday gifts). Get some blinders if you gotta, so you stick only to those purchases.

When Sun Yong Kim-Manzolini, 61, brought up early retirement with her boss back in 2014, he told her he personally wouldn’t consider retiring until he’d reached the magic million-dollar mark in savings. Although her $30,000 salary as a certified medical assistant in Layton, Utah, was around the city’s median individual income at the time, that $1 million goal felt completely out of reach as a mother of three living paycheck-to-paycheck.

She decided that what she’d been doing for 33 years wouldn’t help her reach her retirement goals. “There are people out there making money. Why not me?” she said. So, she retired in 2015 at age 54, diving headlong into options trading.

Setting up her new venture didn’t come cheap. She used up her savings and funneled new side hustle earnings into paying for options trading classes: $20,000 for four weeks of private coaching, plus $3,000 for group classes and about $700 for a new computer. After honing her skills with a virtual trading simulator, she took out a home equity loan to start investing (a very risky move if you ask us).

During her first year trading full time, Kim-Manzolini had hoped to make $35,000. She made $178,000. After gaining experience and doubling down on her investments, she now brings home her old annual salary every month.