outnumbered

I got a rush when I realized it was 7:30 am and I was on my way HOME, watching all the cars driving in the other direction! And yes, I'm thrilled with my deals.

LOL...no relatives for 2000 miles, and all our friends/neighbors live in the same housing with the same very limited storage space, and have their own junk filling it up. Hmm...I might be able to cram it into the shed, but if so, I'll have to keep dh out of it for a month. I'll have to tell him he needs to empty it out and reorganize it...then he ought to stay away. Seriously, though, I'm not sure if I can even lug it into the house, let alone the shed out back. Maybe I'll just wrap it outside and leave it in the front doorway. Or throw everything in his closet out to make room. I think the lack of sleep/lots of coffee is making me a little "out there" this morning...

Those of you who bought big-ticket items as gifts for people in your household...WHERE are you going to hide them for the next month??? We don't have a garage, just a small shed which is already packed. Our closets are full. And I have a giant 2-drawer project center to hide before dh wakes back up. Ack! That's the only problem with BF...unless you have a lot of storage space, you have your work cut out for you, hiding things when you get home from shopping!

In 30-degree weather? For hours? I'd make more than the news, I'd make the obituaries!

Sears: Craftsman 2-drawer tool center, reg $119.99, sale 59.99 Craftsman 18-piece deep socket set, reg. $39.99, sale 19.99 ---minus $10 gift card savings and $10 off coupon--- woohoo! also got some discounted shirts and the $20 HomeMedics seat massager and the $1.99 Christmas lights--two packs. Also had $5 off coupon. Radio Shack: mp3 player, $39.99 in store, with $10 MIR JC Penney's: boys' shirt w/radio control car, reg. $17.99 (though that might be marked up), sale $7.something I'm done till payday and very satisfied!

This was the best BF for me so far! WOOHOO! I left the house at 3:30, hit the ATM, and was on my way. Pulled up at Sears just before 4 am. Incidentally, when I passed Best Buy (just before 4 am), there were maybe 20 people in line. Very different from the "camp out all night to be in the first 100" cities! So I pull in at Sears, park...I'm the FIRST one there! I waited in the van till about 4:10 when someone else showed up, and parked myself right next to the door. Sat there playing dh's gameboy for about an hour. Meanwhile people started showing up behind me in line--not too many during that first hour. The crowds didn't arrive until about 5 am. Sears had signs on their doors to inform customers which door the gift cards would be at, so I easily found the right place. People lined up at the other door though as it was nearest the tool section...but they got no gift cards. Ha ha. So the store finally opens, right at 6 am, and I'm the first one in that door. WOOHOO! But the manager didn't even so much as say hi to us...just handed out the gift cards. I thought they might at least smile or something--nope. I raced in to the tool section, which was quickly being mobbed by the people who'd waited by that door. Found the deep sockets dh needs and went right to the register to buy the $60 project center. I had a coupon for $10 off using my Sears card, and then the $10 gift card, so it was like getting the deep socket set totally free (it was $19.99). Can't beat that! Safe in the knowledge that no one else could buy "my" project center, I went to find the other various gifts I was buying people, and the Christmas lights. Stood in a very long line. One person complained about the line...several others asked who in the world shows up to shop on BF not expecting a line, LOL. Got my stuff (with another $5 off coupon!) and went out to the van, to drive around back to merchandise pickup to get that project center. Total time from entering Sears to being DONE at that store, 1 hour. Not bad at all! Next up was Radio Shack...the mp3 player I wanted was cheaper than I expected. Only a $10 rebate...so it was only $40 before rebate. And it was exactly what I needed--supports all files, USB plug in and go, etc. YAY. So then I went to Penney's and found a shirt for one of my boys that came with a little remote control car. Used up my last $8 getting that, so that was the end of BF shopping. I got every single thing on my list with no hassle whatsoever and only had to deal with one longish line. It was GREAT. And I definitely owe this great experience to gottadeal.com...previous years, when I had no such resource, I wound up not getting everything I wanted, stuck in line forever, etc. Very happy today!

Linens N Things has a microbead massager pillow--neck, back, or foot--for $19.99. Not sure if that's what you meant.

On the BB ad it says "Friday and Saturday Only, no interest till January 2006" for items $299 and up. CC has a similar deal but for purchases $499 and up, ouch.

Hmm, the only red shirt I have isn't very casual, and I don't plan on "dressing up" for shopping. Unless I find something I've forgotten about, I probably won't.

There's an ad in today's paper...it appears to be a weekly ad, and not a BF only ad. I can't tell for sure just by skimming it, but there's at least no big "Friday Only!" print anywhere.

Wow--great catch. I hadn't realized it, but I just checked all pages in my ad and you're right--it's a 2-day sale. Wow...I wonder who made that decision!

Oooh, maybe I should have my dh call you then. LOL. Gosh, do you really have that much time on your hands? Running this website, perusing the stacks of BF ads in today's paper, plotting your strategy for tomorrow...and you have time to be barraged with calls? Wow. Maybe I should call for your time management advice. You must have some trick that I don't know of yet.

Geez...cell phones, wi-fi laptops, ipods, portable dvd players...isn't anyone else poor like me, LOL? Isn't that why we're all so into BF in the first place? Sigh...gotta love military pay....

Belk 5 am, Hobby Lobby 8 am Belk is 5 am to noon on their doorbusters, sorry

Dillard's 7 am...giving away $20 gift cards with $100 purchase from 7 am to 9 am only.

Mara, the Walmart ad was in the Fort Campbell Courier. If you have any opportunity to get out and pick up a copy--it's in there. But I wasn't too impressed w/the ad. Edited to add: There is a Sanyo DVD Recorder/player for $198.73, rollback. And there is a RCA DVD recorder/VCR for $297 every day. Both available online. No clue on shipping costs. That's all the DVD recorder info I can find in it.

I got Walmart in our paper today. It was actually in two papers--the army base's newspaper, and the local town's one. More ads than I've ever seen in today's local paper...no Radio Shack ad, but just about every other store, even some I'd never heard of!

I googled "Black Friday 2004" back in Oct or so, before the ads came out. I don't think I posted here till after I started getting email notifications of ads.

YES!!! That is EXACTLY what I have been racking my brain all day trying to figure out! (Yes, it was more important than the turkey I was roasting, LOL) ...I need to know which door to get that gift card at! Will they open all doors at the same time, and distribute cards to everyone as they come in? Or does only one door get the gift cards? Or, worse, does only one door open first, and the others remain closed till all the good stuff is gone?! I am really, really wishing I'd remembered to call them.

A little flashlight and some reading material would work, too. I really wish I could have convinced friends to go with me...but they all think I'm insane. Actually, one thought I was insane, then I showed her a few of the deals I was after, and she recanted, LOL. But she's still not accompanying me.

I'd like to know what entrance to use...I forgot to call the store and ask yesterday! Argh! I'm assuming it's not through the mall entrance though, and that I'll see people lined up outside. I haven't been to Sears on BF before but I'll be going this year. I'm expecting it to be packed though.

That is so funny...we are going to have spaghetti for the second night in a row. Normally I don't do that to them (2 nights of same dinner), but they all like spaghetti decently enough, it's quick, and it's about the farthest from a turkey dinner as I can get!

1) The Leaf-Chronicle (Clarksville, TN) 2) A whole lotta nothin'! There was only ONE ad in the paper, and it was for Kmart's Thanksgiving Day sale. Not a single BF ad in the entire paper.

Everything's out of the oven now, I'm in the middle of kitchen cleanup, and I called dh to ask him to get today's paper on the way home so I can check out the ads. I swear I could hear him shaking his head at me over the phone, LOL. Next up: wiping down all dining room chairs...boy do they ever get sticky and gross with a 5 y/o and 3 y/o in the house. But since that doesn't sound particularly appearing...yep, here I am again. An addict for sure!

Hey, the pie I've got in the oven is a cherry pie, too! The pumpkin one is cooling. That was a good idea, making the cookies...I'm keeping my kids out of the kitchen with threats. Cookies would've been more fun for them, LOL.