What Bargains Are You Finding Out There?!

We didn't go out until 8 am on Friday. We did find 2 boomboxes for $10 off and a 20" bicycle for $50. Everyone was nice and there was no fighting and biting when we were out, though I did hear of things happening....like a GRANDMOTHER fighting a LITTLE GIRL for a toy the little girl wanted! That grandmother did not make a good impression on a lot of people who were around her. Good grief! It's just a material possession.

I don't think I would go to the extreme of being out on Thanksgiving or standing in the cold for anything, but it was nice to get most of my shopping completed by noon on Friday.

I got a bunch of great deals.. I went to Toys R Us at 10 and it was a disaster so I went back home and then went out at 3:00 to Toys R Us, got a bunch there and there were no lines or crowds by then. Off to Target (great deals there on movies, and toys) stood in line for an hour that was a bummer but probably worth it. Bed, Bath and Beyond was 20% off the whole store but I ended up just using the $5 off $15 purchase and saved more money that way. Finally I went to Michaels for some killer deals 25% off the store plus they had a bunch of great sales. I got an American Girl scrapbook kit for 50% off and a bunch of craft project things for my daughter.

I thought it was worth the craziness because really the only place I even stood in line at was Target the rest of the places were dead by the time I got there, had restocked their shelves and were good to go :)

I love Black Friday! I never miss it!!
This year my daughter and I hit JCPenny because she wanted the pea coat that was on sale. It is adorable and they had plenty. We left the house at 3:40 and got to the store at about 4:15. The cashier told us that there was a line to get in at 4. But, when we arrived, there was no line and no crowds.
We got the few things that we wanted and left. We picked up some donuts, did a few chores, and then went to Joanne's. We picked up a couple of things - used a coupon and got free scissors. It was great!
We try to avoid Walmart (the people are crazy) and Kohls (the lines at are sooo incredibly long!) unless they have something that we really really want. Last year I got jeans for the whole family for $8 per pair! I also got winter coats for $8 each... So if they have what you want - you go.
This year we aren't doing presents - we are doing a special trip instead. My kids are teenagers who totally get that the trip is the present. This year we just shopped for the few things that we wanted to get on sale and the rest... we didn't need or want.
I love being out and we usually make a morning of it - complete with breakfast. Unfortunately, we finished before the breakfast place opened. Maybe next year!
YMMV
LBC

My cousin always hits black friday sales... She gets some AWESOME deals (Last year she got a very decent laptop for $200, and some nice digital picture frames for $15 each...) She loves the sales, and doesn't mind sitting in front of the store for half the night (in the cold...) to wait and be the first in... Personally, I would rather pay the extra money than deal with it. lol.

I do the online thing. It is a lot less of a problem. If you have an idea of what you want and have done your research, then you can get some pretty good deals. I don't like to pay shipping though, so I look for the ones that have FREE shipping. You avoid the crowds and the madness and can shop in the comfort of your own home. I even do my tax free weekend shopping online and still get the school stuff tax free without the crowds! I have lots of friends that really enjoy getting up at the crack of dawn and fighting the crowds and they swear that they get some great deals.

I could not believe the online deals for Black Friday! I have never gone shopping in person on that day, but I am a regular online shopper. I got a 4 foot 4 level 6 room wooden dollhouse from Sears complete with wood furniture for 24.99! I could not believe it. I had been pricing the same dollhouse 3 days prior and couldn't find it for lower than 149.00-199.00. Shipping only cost 17.50, so I think I got a really good deal. I was online a little after midnight, which is when Black Friday starts online. I am so glad I was up, I was actually online to buy a much smaller dollhouse in my price-range and had no idea that Black Friday had started:) I am really happy because dollhouses are so expensive and I have been wanting one for my daughter for long time. If I had paid more attention I would have gotten free shipping for an order over 40.00 and could have just spent the shipping money on extra furniture or another item. No craziness dealing with it online:)

YES, YES, YES!!! We do the black Friday thing! My two cousins, my daughter and I do it every year and we love it! We have it down to a science. After everyone has eaten and the dishes are done, the dining room at my aunts house becomes BF central! We have at least four copies of all the ads (this year we had 7 copies for the 4 of us.). We each go through our own ads, making lists and deciding what our must have items are. Then we start comparing lists and deciding who will go to each store first. We have discovered that Best Buy usually has the best sales for electronics and that is really the best store to shop, they have it down and handle the crowds well. Unfortunately for my daughter, she is the youngest so always has to spend the night in front of Best Buy to be close to the front of the line. We usually limit the number of cars we take and schedule pick ups and drops offs by our list. Having a fully charged cell phone is also a must, we all have iPhones and have several programs that work together to make communication easier. This year we started at 4AM and were finished by 7 and we had purchased every thing we wanted.

The most important rule we have is you must be happy!!!! You know it will be crowded, but make it fun. If you don't, there is no reason to go! The most important don't - we do not go to Walmart unless the items we want are almost free! Nothing is worth that mad house.

This year my daughter and I even ventured out on Thursday. K Mart had a DVD player for 19.99 and it was exactly what I needed. We didn't get up early, we just went when we were able and I got the last one on the shelf.

Contact me next year if you want more tips. We have a lot of them!!!

I did Black Friday for the first time this year. I started with Toys R Us at 10PM on Thursday night and got home about 5 AM on Friday morning. It was COLD standing outside of Target at 2AM, Walmart was a crazy, crazy mess and I was so tired but I got some GREAT deals. A portable DVD player for $49, an 8MG MP3 player for $33, pj sets for $4, DVDs for $2,and a griddle for $10. I saved over a hundred dollars at Toys R Us from what I would have paid had I bought everything at regular price. I only have two things left on my list- headphones and a Pillow Pet- which is awesome for me because I usually end up scrambling to finish the week leading up to Christmas. I plan on doing it again next year but I will be better prepared (with blankets and a thermos of hot coffee). Except for Walmart the crowds weren't bad. Yes there were a ton of people every store we went to but my friend and I ended up having some nice chats with the people around us in the different lanes and in line at Target at about 2:30AM we were talking with some people who were in line around of us and one woman's sister got us coffee (which was SO awesome). The only not so great part of the whole experience was Walmart. They were understaffed and very unprepared to handle crowds. They only had 6 lanes open to check out. Crazy.
But all in all I had a really good time and it was totally worth it as far as the amount of money I saved.