Leaderboard

The end of February brought me grand baby number 7. I'm so in love with her.

You may remember that we didn't give away t-shirts last year due to some unforeseen events that took up much of my time. This year we will be giving away some fun t-shirts on a limited basis. Introducing this year's Black Friday t-shirt: This year's shirt pokes fun at the common sentiment that Black Friday has passed it's usefulness and has nods to some of the stores we've lost along the way since GottaDEAL first started covering Black Friday. The shirts will be given away in our traditional forum contests so be on the lookout for the first contest in the next week or two but know that they will be extremely limited compared to past years, so be sure to enter every contest that pops up if you want the best chance of winning one.

amdskip berry1014 bluebear bodotdot Bopeep bossy1 bribri25 cllehto Cubsfan23 deelite freesia39 Gator Pam giz HanShotFirst Hartcollectibles HomeinKS ilikefree ISU ME Jeanne515 jstluvem Kanyon71 Kash kellis4321 kimpooh19 len_mullen lucyismycat magickallight mcwalker msyves packratfamily riven3d rockpzazz setlok73 speeddiva stacya stationchief tinkrbel tracy0504 wittenlover ytmomof4

It has to be frustrating for people who want to shop on BF in store at Walmart because you have no idea which deals will be there without clicking on each item to see a) if it's sold by Walmart or a 3rd party and b) if Walmart carries it in store or is it online only. With the old ad you knew, these items should be available in store. But yeah, the full sale should be out Thursday morning unless plans change.

Happy May Day! A recent photo from our family farm property in Texas.

We didn't lose anyone in April. Still at 40 members.

I just received Menards and Farm & Fleet in the mail today. Will take pics and get them up on the site soon.

I still would prefer paper ads. Easier to lay them out and compare deals.

I really wish Walmart would stop selling stuff on their website from "other sellers"...if I wanted to purchase items from random people, I'd go to eBay...

Thank you all! My son is home and recovery is - difficult. He has terrible headaches and no sense of taste, He’s frustrated that he can’t go to school or play his beloved hockey. His younger brother just left for a tournament with my husband, so that’s rough. I do believe that he will recover 100% but he is worried about falling behind his sophomore year that just started, and how much muscle mass he will lose before he can put on skates again. I keep telling him that he is here for a reason, and this will all work out. And we have so much to be thankful for. He can walk. He knows who he is and where he is, and he can remember most things except for what happened that night (which is good). We learned that if his head had been turned a different way, or the bike that he was on had been moving, he would probably not be here with us today. We are hoping that his next CT scan will show improvement, and we can start to make plans for his return to normal. Right now it’s just sit and wait, and IDK if you know anything about 15YO boys, but patience is not their virtue lol

I just conducted the random drawing from the 1,519 eligible entries and the 2 winners are... Bopeep (post ID #1569649 from the Amazon Black Friday Sale thread) ytmomof4 (post ID #1569019 from the Disney+ Deals on Black Friday? thread) Congrats to the two winners and be sure to check your messages to claim your prize.

I went to get my snow globe yesterday morning and ended up getting the $500 off of $500 coupon for my store. Totally unexpected! I just wanted the snow globe!

I put together a quick and dirty page with a schedule of when I think the various online sales will start this year. You can check it out here: https://gottadeal.com/schedule I'm still working on a new version of the old tracker and I expect to have that ready for next year. There's a lot of data to put on the page and have it work for both desktop and mobile screens so it's taking a little longer. But this simple page has the times listed, you can pick your time zone to customize it and each sale is linked.

First tracking # is in! This would be a good time to remind you - PLEASE post here when you receive your package, even if you are not opening until Christmas. It keeps my spreadsheet happy :).

I wish more ads were in print. I miss going through the big stack of ads on Thanksgiving to prepare for where to go first to get the best Black Friday deals.

I saw my shadow, so at least six more months of posting on this thread.

The Christmas tree will remain up for a while longer. The queen has decreed it...

Happy New Year! My luger, Kendall, returned home a few days before Christmas from a 2 week training camp and race in Utah, and just left yesterday for another 2 week training camp in Lake Placid, culminating in another race on Saturday, January 18. In the Utah race, she placed 4th, after being edged out by just 0.025 seconds. Not the result we wanted, and she was pretty upset to be edged out of the medals again, especially since she was 3rd after her first run, but the athlete who edged her out is also 2 years older than her, and has spent much more time on that track, where this was only Kendall's second training camp there. These athletes will meet again next weekend, on what is Kendall's home track, and we are hoping for a better outcome for her. Looking forward to being there to watch her race this time. We bring her home on the 19th, and she will spend about a month home before heading back to Utah for the final training camp of the season, where she will compete in 2 levels of National Championships in that time. In the meantime, she had an awesome article written about her that appeared on the front page of our local newspaper, and will have a third article written for our local area weekly Merchandiser in the next week or two. Today's photos include the pic from the front page of the newspaper article, and a pic from race day.

I miss quickly downloading the pdf ad scan leaks before they got taken down

With each passing year, I miss BF at Walmart pre 2020 all the third party sale items are kinda annoying… Times have changed, but I like the old school sales ad where we could actually turn the page and not do so much scrolling of almost endless products…

The t-shirt winners are: tinkrbel Hartcollectibles BFgrl79 Gator Pam rockpzazz Congrats and check your messages to claim your prize. Next contest soon!

Lots of birthdays for my family this month. 3 of my grands, 1 of my kids, and my own. A week from tomorrow, I will be having my hip replaced. When you search for recovery stories, they are all over the place but I intend to be getting up and around by Black Friday! Admittedly, most of my shopping is done online, and I will happily rely on my son to go pick up any packages that get delivered to the post office instead of my front porch . BUT, I still go out on BF bright and early every year. If I have to swallow my pride and be seen using a walker in public, well, that's just what I'll have to do .

So sorry to hear about your son. A lifetime ago, I was hit by a car that ran a stop sign. I was on a motorcycle. The police asked my parents to come to Anna Jacques hospital to 'identify the body'. By the time my parents arrived at the hospital, the prognosis was better. Initially, the surgeons advised my parents that they would not amputate my left arm because most people prefer a useless arm that can be inserted in a jacket and posited in a pocket to no arm at all. Well, it's been half a century since, and use of my left arm is nearly 90%. Keep the faith. If your son's physicians promise you anything less than 100% recover, find a new doctor.

I retired in May. As a consequence, I am free to do whatever I want without regard to compelling commitments. Again, as a consequence, I am free to get up late or very early. For the first time in nearly a decade, I anticipate standing in line for some store opening BF. Not so much for the Door Busters as for the nostalgia. Brad, send me a t-shirt and I will post a picture or me in this shirt in line on BF in New Hampshire -- with no consideration for weather or temperature. I am having SO much fun being a teenager again.

Happy August! My oldest started his senior year at Temple University today, and my luger started her junior year in high school today as well. My youngest boy, who is moving to Seattle for school three weeks from Wednesday, is home today recovering from having his wisdom teeth removed on Friday. Gotta get all of the medical stuff done before he leaves, because we don't know when he'll be back. I picked up my luger in Lake Placid last weekend, and she is done until she flies out to Salt Lake City on November 3 for her first in season training camp. Then it's a whirlwind til mid March, including traveling to Latvia and Germany for 6 weeks starting right after the new year. It's going to be a very long winter with just my husband and I, lol. While Kendall was in Lake Placid training up with the next level team, her current level team coach sought her out to give her the medal she earned for her 3rd place overall finish for last season, which is probably the nicest medal she's ever received. Also while she was there, she took part in the Starts Championships, and placed 2nd among the upper level team. And while I was in LP for a few days before bringing her home, I got to watch her practicing her starts, and she established a new personal record for herself that day. So, she's had a very good summer! This month's pics and video are of her medal, her second place finish in the starts championships, and her PR start. The next couple of month's posts will be a little more boring with no luge, lol. VID_1753499669112.mp4 20250815_140245.mp4

It's been a rough last month or so at work, with the start of the school year. My husband also works with me, and our son works in an adjacent industry (with one of our vendors actually), so have all been wiped out. Things are finally getting slightly calmer, so we are looking forward to that. I did a big thing today though. I went to my supervisor and told him a wanted a title change, and presented documents outlining what the title should be and why. It went really well and he promised he would have discussions about it. But, I know it's a long shot because it has to go up a few levels for approval, and there are others with my current title who would then want the same. But we'll see. The important thing is that I took up for myself, and was taken seriously.

Happy June! It's been a super busy month here, and with working tomorrow, I will have only worked 12 days the entire month (and I pretty much work every day to pay for luge), which is crazy for me. My oldest started his internship in Philly on June 2, so I moved him into his apartment on June 1. Then Kendall's last day of school was June 4, and she, my other son, my husband, and I boarded a plane that night to go see my BFF in FL for 10 days. Returned from FL on the 14th, worked 4 days, and then Kendall had a couple of teammates fly in for her sweet 16 on June 19th. Spent the weekend taking them to Hersheypark, bowling on a rainy day, and to a friend's pool, as well as taking Kendall to get her learner's permit, before driving Kendall and her teammates to Lake Placid to start their summer training camp. Came back home on Wednesday, and have been working every day since. I head back to Lake Placid in mid August to pick her back up, and she starts her junior year on August 25, and summer is done. Unfortunately, the few days I was in LP, I didn't get to see any luge practices, since they weren't doing wheels training, and they had testing to start the season, which they compare to where the finished last season, so nothing for spectators, unfortunately. The pic I do have was taken a few days ago, in front of the USA Luge start house (there are 2 frozen tracks inside where they practice exactly what it sounds like, their starts), and it is of all of the team that was in LP at the time, from the Development Team (beginners), all the way up to the Sr. National Team (including those who will be heading to the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy in February). See you next month!

My landlords son’s birthday is next week, but my landlords are going to visit him this weekend. I generally bake some sort of goody for his birthday. This year it is This Old’s Instant Pot plain New York cheesecake with homemade strawberry glaze and strawberries. It will chill overnight and go up with my landlords tomorrow. I increase the recipe for an 8”x3” push pan, but the recipe is written for a 6”x3” pan. Jill gives directions for increasing the size for different diameter pans to keep the thickness consistent.

Happy 50th birthday to me month!!! I have clawed, scratched and climbed this hill and ready for the other side. Happy May!!!

April's here...hopefully bringing warmer weather here to stay. This past weekend we were close to 70 degrees, yesterday and today in the 40s and barely feeling like it. It's supposed to be warm again tomorrow but bringing in some nasty weather with it. On a good note...a couple weeks ago hubby won $10,000 on an Ohio lottery scratch-off! No April Fool's joke, he really did!

I have a friend who is planning to move across the country at the end of next month. She has a lot of canned goods she’s not planning on taking with her. I saw a photo the other day the free pantry at one of the churches in Kirkland showing it could use some donations. I also went through some of my shelved food stuffs I wasn’t using, packed them up and picked up some goods from my friend. I then made my first donation at the pantry. Here’s hoping I did it right. I’ll probably make a stop once a week until my friend’s back stock is diminished. The outside of the pantry at Holy Spirit. What I found when I first opened it. And a few non food items on the bottom. After I added the items I brought. I hope some of these items will fill needy bellies. A lot of these foods need a can opener. Not that I can afford it, but if I could find a deal on bulk inexpensive manual can openers, like at least 100 but no more than $20 for them, I might order some to donate along with the canned goods.

One to rule the tree ... And one to tear it down ... Who will win??? Tune in next time! Same cat time, same cat channel!

Happy February!! It's been a busy month since my last post here. My luger had.a training camp in Lake Placid for 2 weeks, culminating in the second USA Luge North American Continental Cup race, in which Kendall redeemed herself after missing a bronze in the first part of that race in Salt Lake City by 0.025 seconds. She won bronze in the Lake Placid race, besting the Canadian that beat her in Salt Lake City by a large margin. Next up is Kendall's final training camp of the season for 3 weeks in Salt Lake City, with Youth National Championships (for ages 12 to 17) taking place over the course of 2 days the second weekend of March, Jr. National Championships (ages 14 to 21), taking place on March 14th. Kendall has a very good chance of bringing home a medal in at least Youth Nationals, but will have stiff competition in Jr. Nationals, though barring anything unforeseen, she should still do very well. A few days before she heads to SLC, she will be flying to Wisconsin to spend the weekend with her bestie teammate, and they will fly on to SLC together for camp. I'm heading out to SLC in March to watch both races, and to fly back with Kendall. I'm excited to.be in Utah again, since it's been 3 years, though with all of these recent air travel events, and me already being a nervous flyer, I'm not thrilled about flying anytime soon, nor with sending my child flying on her own. With Kendall being a Team USA athlete, this one accident hits way too close to home, as we have likely seen some of these ice skaters during Empire State Winter Games of years past. Surreal. Anyway, here is a pic of Kendall with her "bronze" wooden medal, lol

It’s here!! I’m out of town so I won’t be opening until Christmas Eve. Thank you so much for all the wrapped goodies. I can’t wait to see what’s inside Thank You Secret Santa

Prize Club is closed with 56 members to start. Good luck to everyone!

Happy BF! I got my bucket.....I am happy.

I love seeing all of the new members chatting and getting the items they want. I remember when I found this site and all of the excitement and help from the veterans of BF shopping. Len Mullens (sic) is a technical wizard and has helped me by tv's, computers, and even a GPS (dating myself). So if you are looking for something or need help, post it here or in the respective chats and we will all be happy to help. Welcome to the Gottadeal Family and I hope you stay around all year as the sales never end.

I miss having a finite list of items that we could type up each year and utilize a search feature across the ads to compare items. Now, it spans 7 weeks and 10,000 items that is just unreasonable to manage/follow the items and the sale intervals.

Thanks Jesusluvu. Yes she loved her sweets! I have a tons of pictures of her eating too. I used to send them to her aide, almost daily, when I took mom out to eat. Her aide used to get a kick out of it. She could never get over seeing a 92 year old woman who could eat as much as my mother did.

I’m in!

WooHoo, Let's go! We are on day 3 of tornadoes in Oklahoma. Hopefully Mother Nature gets her stuff together and gives us some fall weather the rest of the month. I saw someone on Facebook post "We wanted hoodie weather, not "evacuate your hood" weather!"

October! Breast cancer awareness month! 14 year survivor!!!!!!

Sad, but true... Just the other day I was thinking back on the stores I used to hit up every BF, starting with K-Mart on Thanksgiving morning, Toys R Us and/or KB Toys were always a stop... how standing in long lines in the cold, snow and/or rain was the norm and I couldn't wait to do it... but yeah, it's pretty much dead in 2024...

Who is ready for the GottaDeal exchanges? It's The Most Wonderful Time of the Year! If you’ve played before, you know the deal. If you have not participated, please consider joining us. We have a lot of fun! All you need to do to get in on the fun is read this long list of rules, then fill out the questionnaire and PM it to me by November 8. You know there must be rules, so here they are (please read before signing up) 1. Secret Santa is just like it sounds - a secret exchange of gifts! There's a MINIMUM of $10 before shipping. If you choose to spend more, please don't be disappointed if your Santa does not. 2. Ornament Exchange is also just like it sounds - an exchange of ornaments! There's a MINIMUM of $5 before shipping. 3. Card Exchange is also as it sounds - an exchange of holiday greeting cards. Unlike the other two, however, you send (a card) to everyone who signs up and you get (a card) from everyone who signs up! If you have a favorite holiday recipe, feel free to include it with the cards you send out. There is no minimum or delivery confirmation but please understand that you send a card to everyone on the list so if 50 people join the exchange you will be spending $36.50 for postage. (The current cost for a first-class stamp as of the time of this posting is 73 cents). 4. Tracking (aka delivery confirmation) is a MUST. Please PM me the tracking number and how it is being shipped (USPS, UPS, etc.) so I can keep track of everything. If you send via USPS Priority it should be included at no charge, but it is always best to check for yourself. 5. Insurance from the USPS is also a MUST. Check with the post office nearest you for the cost. 6. Make sure your item(s) is/are properly packed and with plenty of padding. 7. Everything must be new/unused within reason. Used books, CDs, and DVDs are okay as long as they are in a like new condition that you would be okay with receiving. 8. The last day to sign up is Friday, November 8. I should be able to get the names out by Sunday, the 10th. 9. The last day to ship is Monday, December 9. If for some reason you cannot ship by this date, please let me know ASAP and then ship priority. 10. If you are participating in the Card Exchange please feel free to mail them any time but make sure to keep holiday mail delivery times in mind. 11. You must be a member with some posting activity, to participate. This helps to make sure that only dedicated GottaDealers are participating and we have less of a chance of people flaking out. 12. If you participate in the SS/OE, please post when you receive your package even if you are waiting until later to open. THIS IS SO IMPORTANT. I'm begging NOW. 13. The most important rule of all - HAVE FUN! Please include in your PM: 1. Your forum username, your name and address 2. Your email address, in case I need to contact you and can’t reach you through PM (I don’t include your email address with the information to your SS) 3. The exchanges you would like to take part in (Secret Santa, Ornament and/or Card) 4. The answers to the questions below if you are going to participate in Secret Santa/Ornament exchange *Are you male or female? *What is your t-shirt size? *Are you married? *Kids? If so, gender and age *Pets? *Allergies, diabetes, etc that your SS may need to know? *Would you accept homemade food (such as cookies)? *Any absolute dislikes? *Anything you really don’t want any more of (i.e. coffee cups, knick knacks, etc)? *Favorite Crafts or Hobbies? *What do you do for a living? *What is something you like to do with your family? *Do you collect anything? *Favorite Fast Food Establishment? *Favorite Candy/Sweet/Finger Food? *What is your favorite color? *Do you like lotions? If so what kinds? *Do you like scented candles? What scent? *Any favorite sports teams or Nascar drivers? *What's your favorite type of music? *Who is your favorite musical artist? *What's your favorite movie? *What's your favorite holiday movie? *What kind of books do you like to read? *Do you have a favorite author? Who? *What's your favorite thing to do during your ‘me time’? *What is your favorite winter activity? *Something that you wouldn’t buy yourself but have always wanted? *Would you prefer your gifts wrapped, or no? *If you had $20 to shop for yourself at Target or Walmart, what would you likely look for? *Is this the only/primary gift you will be opening this year (that you didn't buy yourself. You know who you are. )? *What else would you like your Secret Santa to know? This is not an official GottaDeal.com event, so participate at your own risk. GottaDeal can't be held responsible if you do not receive anything. Speaking of not receiving anything, hopefully everything goes as planned and no elves are needed, but please let me know if you are willing to step up in case someone does not receive their SS/OE package. Secret Santa (16) Wittenlover Bopeep ilikefree msyves sunni0913 Kash HanShotFirst Gatorburg ytmomof4 JesusLuvU tracy0504 Pepper_Mint_Tea stevierocks jendeere BFAddict716 Coastiwife Ornament Exchange (7) Bopeep msyves sunni0913 ytmomof4 JesusLuvU Pepper_Mint_Tea BFAddict716 Cards (8) msyves sunni0913 Hubbalance packratfamily tracy0504 stevierocks BFAddict716 carheel

I always feel like I am forgetting something the last few years when I am out because I don't have my binder or grocery bag full of ads

The 7 final t-shirt winners are: ilikefree giz mgreen bribri25 wittenlover mcwalker Illinoismom Congrats and check your PMs to claim your prize (and do it quick for your best chance of getting the size you want). Once these are all shipped I'll see if I have any left that I can still give away but no promises

Glad to see the positive reaction. Since we're still over 2 months from BF I may be able to order a few more. No promises though.

My kids are 18 and 22 and they still love to go through the toys catalogs and circle things, especially my youngest LOL.