Poof

And just like that a month has almost past by since I've blogged last.  I don't know where the days go.  Seriously.

I'm getting ready for the holidays coming up.  Finding all the best deals for all those Christmas presents that I'm purchasing on an unemployment income.  Yep... I'm stretching it the best I can but it's getting to the point where it's not covering cost that are in our house.  Now mind you... I've found great deals.  Really really great deals.  But I really hope Santa leaves me a big stash of money in my stocking this year. 

I can't get into all the really great deals since some of my readers may be getting them... or their children may be getting them.  I had a ton of luck on Black Friday as always finding many items for the kiddos on my list. 

Here's where I ended up.  I started my day at Walgreen's.  At Walgreen's and CVS on Thanksgiving Day they have a BUNCH of stuff for free (after their cash coupon that spits out).  I got everything that was on my list from there and headed home to work on my Thanksgiving lunch sides. 

After we ate our turkey and took our long food coma nap I started my night at 10pm at Walmart.  Yes... 10pm on Thanksgiving Day night.  Walmart had two sales.  One at midnight and the other at 5am.  I started grabbing stuff and putting it into my cart at 10:05pm.  The store was not ready for people to be scoping out the midnight sale items yet.  By 11:05 I had all my items in my cart that I wanted for the midnight sale.  By 11:40 I was the first person in line to check out once midnight struck.  Score!

Then I headed home to help Jerome with a few online orders that he wanted to place.  We ended up running to an electronics store and staying there for a long time.  Thankfully we drove separately so I wasn't stuck there.  Instead I scoped out the area Targets.  Yeah... the good thing about being in the Cities is that we have multiples of stores in a very close proximity.  I swung by three and ended up staying at the last one that I swung past.  Target was giving customers in line coffee, snack bars, coupons and maps to the store.  This was by far the best customer service!  Yet again, I scored everything on my list.

I then headed back to Walmart for the 5am sale.  You guessed it... scored everything again.

Then it was time for the trouble location.  Menard's.  There was no way I was going to get into line there.  I've stood in that line.  It's not worth it.  People cut.  People get mad.  People fight.  I was one of those people who cut... who made people mad.   But, I scored everything and was out the door lickity split.

I jumped over to Sears for an item and then crashed for all of 30 minuets before I had to watch my Hubby's grandson.  Whew.  Thankfully that little boy was in need of a very long nap as was I :)

It's that time again...

Are you ready? Don't forget to check out my Black Friday tips from last year.

I'm thinking I will be hitting up Target.  Their ad scans can be found here.  I love the fuzzy blanket that we bought last year and I think we need another for our spare room (page 12).  I may need one or two of those area rugs too.  I'll be in search of the external hard drives too.

What are you in search of? 

Who loves Black Friday?

I do! I do!



Here's my tips for excellent Black Friday shopping:

• Pull out cash out of your banking account days before Black Friday, I say days because some times there are limits as to how much you can pull in a specific day. I've had issues two years with either my debit card being declined because my bank thought someone stole it and was on a early morning shopping spree or when the credit card machines were overloaded and super slow (that eats up time for other stores if you don't have cash).
  
• If you town has more than one kind of paper that has ads in it, purchase both! You never know if you'll get an ad in one and not in the other, or if you'll need two copies for two different shoppers (you and your shopping buddy). Be sure to look early on Thanksgiving Day so you are sure to get the papers as they do eventually run out.
• Do vehicle updates... gas it up, add windshield wiper fluid, clean it out. Take out everything you don't possibly need but leave the snow scrapper and the jump cables... you never know what you'll do (leaving the lights on) when you are in a rush or what is will do while your in the check out line (snow 3 inches!). You must have as much room as possible!
  
• Use those post-it tags while looking through the ads to mark things. I mark what I'm interested in at first glance. Then I go back through and find the best deal and at what location.
  
• When you have your "must get" items flag them with a post-it tag, if you have "maybe" items flag them with a different color flag, and then remove all other flags from your ad.
  
• Once you've figured out which store you have to hit up, make a list as to what time each location opens up. If you have more than one store that opens at the same time this is where that shopping buddy comes into play. Know the location for the closest store and the 2nd closest... never know when something you want will be out at one store and not the other.
• Plan your route. Since you know what time stores open, and where you want to go plan with your shopping buddy as to who is going where. There is no need for both of you to be at the same location unless there is a ton of door busters that you are trying to get or a very specific one (big screen tv) that the store may only have two of that you have to search for.
  
• Find your mittens, hats, scarves, hoodies, jeans and running shoes. Layout what your going to wear. Be sure to dress in layers as it can get pretty toasty running around in those stores!
• Find a trusty purse. One that you can wear over your body. In the zipper put your money, id, credit cards, debit cards, store cards, and any coupon... and ZIP IT. Then hopefully there is another pocket where you can stash Kleenex, chap stick, a hair tie, a snack, Tylenol, and anything else you may need during the day. Then in the big part you can shove my text tip in....
  
• Go to Ikea and purchase some of their plastic bags. They have them for a whopping .59 cents! No cart needed in any store, which can totally slow you down. Just dump it in your bag and your good to go. I do say though, bring along other bag to pack your deals in for your car so that you can use your Ikea bag at the next store.
• Get your travel mug ready along with your pot of coffee. Turn it on when your alarm goes off and you'll have something to quench your thirst in the car between stores. Also grab a bottle of water and some quick snacks.
• Get to bed early, but not before you set your alarm... or alarms in my case.

I've been known to shop from 4am till 4pm! Can't wait till Black Friday 2009!

Black Friday Planning...

Black Friday Trunk

Black Friday 2008 Recap

Here's the run down:

Kohl's - 4am door opening, arrived at 3amThought I was first in line while lining up at the usual first door like the last three years. Started the line and a group came up to line up behind me. But they read the signs on the door stating that these doors wouldn't be open, so around the corner we went. 15th in line and still got my Roomba and earrings. But my card was declined when I tried to purchase the Roomba 5 minuets after purchasing the earrings and GPS unit on the first floor. Wells Fargo thought my card was stolen and locked it.

Walmart while JT was at Sears and Target in Burnsville - 5am door opening but I arrive around 4:45am
First off, it's Ghetto Walmart. Everyone and their brother was at this Walmart. Ugh. Since I was already at Kohl's and also tried to get cash out of an ATM in the opposite direction of Walmart I was not going to get "in line". I parked my car, called Jerome and told him the situation with my card. He was in line at Sears and told me that after Target he would meet me at Walmart. People were pissed when others from the parking lot thought they would stroll up to the doors. People in line started yelling and pointing to the back of a line in a chant of "Back of the Line, Back of the Line!" when the parking lot shoppers chatted back "Hell no we won't go". I had to laugh, knowing I was standing in the middle of both of these groups. Check out the video I took with my phone once we all crammed to the closed doors... it was a blast yet very scary. I ran through with my Ikea bags in hand, dumping all the items on our list into the bags. This was a great idea. Glad I grabbed two and not just one single bag. Eventually I had everything on our list and then was waiting on Jerome. There I sat at Ghetto Walmart for a total of 2 hours waiting on Jerome to bail me out by bringing me cash after he went to Sears and Target in Burnsville.

Sam's Club
Picked up some noise canceling headphones for my man.

Target
I had items on my list that Jerome wasn't able to find when he was in Burnsville. I got everything with the exception of a Charging or Docking Station for cell phones, ipods, and bluetooths.

Kmart
Picked up some b1g1 free booster seats for Tink

Best Buy
Norton Anti Virus for 2009, a gift for a family member and another item

Toys R Us
Toy for Tink

Bed Bath and Beyond
I had a $10 gift certificate and a $5 off coupon plus the 20% off coupon that I received at the door. Usually this would not be on my list of places to go, but with $15 I knew I could find something. I got a table for my laptop... but once getting it home I will be taking it back... sigh.

The Avenue
$5 sweaters that I could not pass up. Sweet!

Ultimate Electronics
Again, not on my list of places to go... but I did it for Jerome even though I don't think he needs more speakers even if they are b1g1 free.

Old Navy
Got Pork Chop a toy

2nd Target of the Day
Found the docking station!

Casual Male
Had a coupon for $25 off a purchase plus a 10% discount. Got a few sweaters for Jerome.

Petco
The only store that I came out empty handed. No sale :(

World Market
Found a better docking station!

Sears
Found Jerome's car jack that he wasn't able to find in the Burnsville store.

This took me 12 hours. This included one trip back into the 2nd Target to the bathroom and a brunch date with Tiff and Sarah at Perkins - I think that was about an hour.

Note to self: Next year... bring cash - screw the cards, that's two years in a row that we had issues. Bring Ikea bags again - I got tons of "that's a smart move" from fellow shoppers, thanks Micaela for the idea!

****** Pictures and Video coming soon *******

It's beginning to look like

Here's a few sites that I've already started to make my Black Friday list from... gosh I can't wait to get the ads in my hands!!!

• http://www.blackfriday.info/sales/
• http://www.theblackfriday.com/
• http://www.bradsdeals.com/black_friday/ads.cfm
• http://bfads.net/Adscans
  

Are you a Black Friday shopper? Where do you usually go? What time do you usually start? Is there anything that you are looking for? Are there two stores opening at the same time and you want to be at both of them but know that's impossible and want a shopping buddy?

I'm so into this! I love it. This is one of the few times you can get me out of bed super duper early. I run on adrenaline. I love it. When I'm finished I treat myself to breakfast some where nice and warm.

Be sure to check out my previous posts on Black Friday events to get you in the spirit!

Black Friday Card Trouble...

So yesterday Jerome and I ran to Target and picked up a few necessities - aka plastic storage bags and Kleenex. Jerome told me to try my card for our joint account to see if it worked because the one he used on Black Friday was our joint card - with his name on it. Mine worked. No problem. So he called the bank to find out what was up with his card not working correctly.

They stated that they thought someone had stole the card and was making large purchases on Black Friday with it. Thus, why it went through the first two times but nothing after that. Apparently because Jerome never uses the joint card it fell inactive. Yet mine was still active since that's what I use to pay bills and such.

So... moral of the story... use your card or you'll look like you have no money! :)

Sorry!

Two weeks pasted just like that?!?!? Whoa.

Sorry to my people who are looking in each and every day to see if something new has come up. I honestly can't say I was doing much of anything special. Let me ponder on the last two weeks and find out what I was really doing...........





Okay... here's something. Jerome, JST, Tinker and I went to Jerome's other daughter PST's apartment for Thanksgiving. The story goes that Jerome and I left home right when we got home from work. Jerome was in the driver's seat of the Neon... he decided that he didn't want to take the main highway that runs all around the cities because he thought it would be packed with rush hour and all. Then the phone rang. JST was wondering when we were going to be picking her up. Jerome thought she wasn't coming with thus why we had already left - without picking her up. He got off the phone and I told him he should go get her. That if he didn't he would be feeling it later.

We turned around and picked up JST and Tinker. Yep, we were still in the Neon. But now I know what it'll be like with a little one in the back... hopefully when we have kids ours will be as calm as Tink was. She didn't make a peep the whole time... and when I say whole time it should have been only three hours... but it ended up being a five hour tour. Ugh. It was rush hour, it was the day before Thanksgiving, it was snowing - only flurries though.

We arrived around 12:30 or so at night. Whew. We made it. Jerome and I claimed the couch while PST and her boyfriend CT claimed their room. I'm not actually even sure where JST and Tink ended up honestly... ? The girls stayed up giggling and talking while Jerome and I dozed off into sleep.

When we woke in the morning I let Jerome know that I needed a paper... for the BEST HOLIDAY paper EVER. Yup... Black Friday. True, not a real holiday... but I celebrate it none the less! Jerome left to pick up my paper and came back to pass the sacred paper to me. It smelled of fresh printed ink. Tasty! I studied each and every paper. Searching for the must have deals. I had already looked online at some of the ads thru Black Friday websites... but it's something about the actual paper. Once I had gone thru we decided to shower and pack up to head back to the Cities.

When I got out of the shower I was informed that PST was coming back to the Cities with us. Wha? How? Oh my... will we all fit in the Neon???? Truth be told, yes... we all could fit. Now were we all comfortable... that I can't say. I bet Tink had the best spot in the car! We made it back and dropped off all the girls at JST and PST's mom's house. Jerome and I headed to a gas station to pick up a City paper to view and make sure we received all of the same ads as in PST's neck of the woods. Then we headed to Lisa's husband's family feast.

We weren't sure if we were going to make it, so we hadn't prepared anything. I felt a little bad until we walked in and saw all of the food. Most people had already eaten and people were getting to the point of making their "to go" plates. Jerome and I piled our plates, ate, and then piled up our own "to go" plates.

We headed home. We went downstairs to watch TV and I sat in my chair to study. I got out the flags to tag the pages in the ad. And stuck a post it note on the front of each place where there was something that I wanted with what that item was, the store name and what time the store opened. I also circled the item in the ad. I was set. The only problem was that a few of the stores where I wanted to go were opening at the same time... I enlisted Jerome to help me out. What a great hubby!

Here's the run down:
4am:

• Kim at Kohl's for the opening (standing in line) for an 18 qt. roasting crock pot (didn't get - they sold out on Wednesday b/c they were apparently open then - GRRRR), ear muffs, and flash lights that don't require batteries.
• Jerome at JC Penny for the opening (standing in line) for Queen size air mattress with pump and Adidas sweat pants (didn't get since they didn't have the right size and color combination)
  

5am:

• Kim at Toys R Us for the opening (standing in line) for a few Xmas presents for my nieces and a little something for Tink to borrow when she is at our house
• After Toys R Us Kim heads to Walmart for 2 pk Gerber sleepers for Tink, digital picture frame for my xmas present to myself, a portable DVD player (which was returned later on in the day after I thought about it a bit), GWM Xmas present, a few DVDs and a fry daddy for Jerome (was returned - see Kmart)
• After Walmart Kim heads to Kmart for Xmas presents for Nieces and a Grand Daddy Fry Daddy for a dollar more than the Walmart Fry Daddy
  
• Jerome at the small Best Buy for the opening (standing in line) for a 500 GB external hard drive (which was returned - see Target) and either blank CDs or DVDs
  
• After Best Buy Jerome headed to Target for a different 500 GB external hard drive that was $15 cheaper and either some blank CDs or DVDs. Jerome calls Kim to say his card isn't working. WHAT? Kim heads to Target to make his purchases with her card and also pick up phones for PJM. (More details in the next post)

Now since we had to meet up we are off schedule. Not really that big of a deal. We both head to Office Max to pick up some Anti Virus and also a Wireless Router which we aren't sure if we are keeping yet or not.

Then we went to Menard's for some light and cheap snow shovels, and a few other things. We thought we were done so we went to Perkins for breakfast and to discuss our purchases. We got everything that was on our list with the exception of the roaster at Kohl's and the Adidas pants. Pretty good I think.

Then it was off to bed. We both took a good long nap. When we woke up Jerome headed over to see PST and Tink and I headed out to Walmart to make returns. We met up afterwards and headed to Lowe's to see about ladder that was on sale as well.

I found out when I went to work on Monday that one of my co-workers was in my dust trail. She started her day at the same Kohl's and Toys R Us. Funny! She should have picked up the phone to call since I started with my phone calls to Lisa at 4:10am and receiving a call from PJM around 4:30 am! It was so much fun! I can't wait till the day after Christmas :)

Black Friday....

Here's the first email that I had waiting for me at work this morning... how nice! I can't wait... anyone else "doing" Black Friday this year???? Last year I had such a blast with Jerome!



This is a Black Friday email alert to let you know that the 2007 version of BlackFriday.info has launched! This year we've got some really great new features that we're sure you are going to love.

New this year is our Black Friday shopping list. While browsing the Black Friday ads, you'll notice that each item has a button that allows you to add it to your personalized shopping list. This is a quick and easy way to keep track of the items that you are interested in purchasing on Black Friday. You can also share your shopping list with friends and family by sending them your personalized shopping list URL so that they have instant access to all the great Black Friday savings and they'll know what to buy you this holiday season. :)

Another feature we are highlighting this year is our daily product deals.
Every day we post deals for products that are deeply discounted and in some cases, better than the deals you find on Black Friday! Just like last year, we also have a full selection of online coupons that you can use to save even more money any time of the year.

Finally, this wouldn't be a Black Friday alert if we didn't have some Black Friday ads for you. So far, we have confirmed Black Friday ads for Ace Hardware and Harbor Freight and we also have a few of the Black Friday deals for Sears.

To view the new 2007 Black Friday site, go to:
http://www.blackfriday.info/

To view the Ace Hardware Black Friday ad, go to:
http://www.blackfriday.info/ads/acehardware-black-friday-ad.html

To view the Harbor Freight Black Friday ad, go to:
http://www.blackfriday.info/ads/harborfreight-black-friday-ad.html

To view some of the Sears Black Friday deals, go to:
http://www.blackfriday.info/ads/sears-black-friday-ad.html

We expect more Black Friday ads to be coming out very soon and we'll also be releasing a few more features to help make planning your holiday shopping even easier.

BlackFriday.info