okannie

I strongly dislike the Thursday store openings! Thanksgiving Day should be about enjoying family gatherings, football and food. I loved the fun of going out early in the a.m. Friday morning after an enjoyable Thanksgiving Day to shop for all the deals. We would get in lines, do our shopping and then have brunch. Now with so much on Thursday, a lot of the fun is gone plus there are twice the people crowding in the stores at the earlier times. It doesn't mean better sales as a lot pick it up only to ditch it at the register or around the store. So many of the stores have multiple sales all through the night which I don't like either because we live about 40 minutes away from where we shop so it is hard to hang around all through the night for all the different hours of the sales. With the old way, all on Friday, most of the sales would be at 5 a.m. with a few late ones at 10 a.m. which was perfect.

Usually about 2 weeks before Black Friday so I am going with the 12th....could be as early as the 10th....I am ready to get my game on

I think a lot of us have the same pet peeves. For me the pet peeves that come to mind: People who bring young children out. I once saw a woman leave her under ten year old to stand in line at Target while she went to Toys R' Us. People who ram you repeatedly with their cart, the first time is an accident but after that pay attention, we are all in the lines going slow. All the people that crowd the stores just to be there, not really shopping. People who show up 30 minutes before start time and think they deserve the hot deals and are shocked they are so far back in the line or can't get close to the pallet of stuff.

On the rare occasion that the thing someone must have doesn't really go on sale, then yes, I would pay full price . Before I would do that, I would of done my research to be sure that in no way could I save any money because I all about stretching the dollar.

My oldest son and daughter-in-law go with me...my son is 6ft. 4in. tall so he can reach into the crowd an pluck out what we are after...my DIL is small so she can squeeze into the small spaces and grab stuff....it is great fun to score all our treasures...

We decided to draw names in our small family as several are on tight budgets, that way everyone just has to get 1 or 2 gifts for $60 or less each. The one granddaughter is already bought for since she is big into Breyer horses, we bought some at Breyerfest in July and have been picking up since then. Santa already has his tucked away for her too. I have some of what my son and DDIL are getting from me as I drew their names. I will probably get the other 2 kids something small but is it. Depending on what we see in the ads, may do any of it online if we can get.

As we have scaled down the gift giving except for for granddaughter, don't plan on hitting the stores, will be doing any shopping online this year. We will stay home and enjoy the ballgames, food and family. The last couple of years the finds haven't been that great in the store plus with the change of hours, the crowds are horrible. We may venture out later or on Friday but the list is short, we shall see.

I will be waiting....

Santa Looked a Lot Like Daddy...

The year I remember being funny to our family, my son, daughter-in-law, and I had waited at Target for the opening at 5 a.m. As usual when the doors opened we rushed through with the crowd. Later that evening when we got home, there was a clip on the local news and you could see my 6ft. 4in. son and hear him yelling: WOO-HOO!! GO, GO, GO!!....so funny...great memories...

I have been at this 24 years...my middle child was six and wanted Nintendo with Mario...I was newly divorced with 3 kids so needed to stretch my dollar as far as it could go...Walmart had the new Nintendo with games for a great buy...when I got in the store couldn't find them in the electronic department as they hadn't brought them out yet...I had my ad so manager went to look for them and people were getting them before he could get them over to the front of the line but I managed to push my way to him and said I was first in line so he handed me one right there... Score!!...been at it every since. I do miss the days of leaving the house at 2 a.m. to go stand in line at some store with other crazy BF shoppers ....my kids and I have some fun memories of the chaos and talking with people in years gone by. The new hours and encroachment onto Thanksgiving day has taken a lot of the fun out of it.

Scour GottaDeal for all the ads and special buys...then decide what we need or want...what stores have what hours...then plan our attack...who goes where and gets what....

We were avid collectors of the JCP snow globes....love them...

I have never camped out but have spent many hours waiting in lines. I think the longest we waited was 12 hours. Most of the time we can get there about 5-6 hours early for the places we want to go and get what we are after.

So excited to win a shirt this year . Can't wait to wear it...Thanks...

I watch for deals as summer comes to a close and then add to what I have on Black Friday. My granddaughter is into Breyer horse models, big time, so don't know if I will see much in that category. The rest of the family and I drew names so the shopping list is smaller than in previous years. I think I would like to check out Tuesday Morning this year and see what they might offer. In the beginning years I bought all my major items at Black Friday because the deals were great and my dollar went a lot farther but now that the kids are grown and only one granddaughter I don't need as many deals so it will depend on what I am looking for.

Harbor Freight-10/14

Most years there is always an item that I would like to have...sometimes I get it as a gift from another family member but usually I buy it myself...this year I am in want of a new shop vac so hope they have a really good deal on one..

The opening times were pushed again so it is hard to get in Thanksgiving with family before taking off. For me, I had trouble looking at the ads since I was cooking which I felt cheated because I didn't have as much time to peruse the ads and make my list. I do use GottaDeal to look at the ads ahead of time but like having them in hand to really take a good look at what there is. I did like all the online deals offered before Black Thursday and most of the prices I took advantage of were cheaper even if just a couple of dollars. Walmart did a better job at my store of handling the items and the wrist bands were a great idea. Lots of stuff left over so walking around could pick up things that I didn't get to. I was disappointed about the snow globes at Penney's not available until Friday morning, the sale started Thursday night so looks like the tradition of the snow globe is still broken. Some sales were good but a lot were just so-so, not that exciting. The same things have been offered every year at some of the stores so if you bought it 3 years ago why would I need it again. I have found that Lowe's offers some of the Black Friday sale items cheaper the weekend before the sale, I went there the weekend before and saved $5.00 on each of the tool sets I was looking at. I am beginning to think we will give up the big Black Thursday sale at the store and start doing everything online and maybe check out the store after the start time as you can find lots of things afterwards. All in all, with the online sales my shopping is done and I can just relax and enjoy the rest of the season so in that spirit....Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

Depends on whether I am inside or out...if outside of course the coat if the weather demands it, I have a couple of years here in Oklahoma been able to get by with a long sleeve shirt and light jacket. When we have done Walmart for extended hours we leave the heavy coats in the car as it gets too hot to mess with coats as the crowd builds plus don't want tied down to a cart some years. This year looks to be a colder year so coat will definitely go with me. Usually have necessary ads that we are matching in pocket and a the small silicone card carrier from GottaDeal with my id and cards I need.

I am so excited to win a shirt....thank you so much...

I, like so many others, miss the early morning starts on Friday. It was a long tradition, 25 years, in our home and as the kids grew up they joined in the crazy fun. Looking for that special deal, the standing in line with others, the mad rush to get the deal. Only the true bargain shoppers would get up in the middle of the night to be there, now you see a flurry of people come in the door the last 30 minutes trying to get the deal, they don't care about those who have waited a long time to get that deal. The crowds are immense, more than in the days before the Thursday opening times. I am doing more and more shopping from home, maybe we will start some new traditions such as all get on our computers to order the deals we want, then go out to eat and take in a movie. I would rather the country go back to honoring that day as a day to give thanks for what we already have and our families but alas it has probably changed forever. I still love GottaDeal for all the help you give to help a person plan and shop so that tradition will stay

What is the best way to stay up for the long night of deals....

One year at Toys R Us a line jumper started tugging on my daughter-in-law, he got a piece of my mind and all of the shoppers around us closed ranks and the store people sent him to the end of the line. Walmart is a lot crazier with the earlier times, more people. Two years ago, the mattress toppers were a hot item, the whole pallet was already spoken for by the early shoppers, everyone had hands on but still people tried to get in close. One lady got two only to be knocked down and one of the toppers taken from her cart. I wait an hour and check the customer service area, they will have carts of stuff people decided not to buy plus looking around the store for ditched items.

10/11/2013--Harbor Freight