msomnipotent

Well, I had a really long post just about typed out and then my cat walked across the keyboard and cleared everything, and then the site logged me off before I finished my second draft. I will just cut to the chase. Stores have really missed the mark this year. They have merely decent sale prices for things like TVs, computers, and cameras. With money being tight for most consumers, they are choosing to hold onto their old electronics because they are still in working order. There are no great sales for upgrades like LED TVs. That would have been a huge draw, in my opinion. There are no truly hot toys this year because they are using old ideas. Dancing Elmo has become Dancing Mikey, Zhu Zhus are warrior Zhu Zhus, Monster High are the new Bratz, etc. With interest rates being so low (or non-existent) right now, there is no reason why stores should not be offering awesome payment plans right now. Instead, I feel that they are just taking advantage of people that really need something like an appliance and only offering zero percent for six months, when as someone has already mentioned, it used to be up to 36 months. Stores like Meijer, Wal-mart, and Target should be offering free reusable grocery bags filled with food coupons to the first 100-500 people. That would get me out of the house. Who doesn't love coupons now? But I haven't seen this anywhere. I truly feel that stores have realized that BF is a big thing now and figure that people will come anyway. The most they will do is take advantage of people that do not know their prices, and then they will lose them as customers. Everyone is much more price aware now and will resent being taken advantage of. Having said that, I think the current sales are great. I am getting better than BF pricing on everything that I buy (or else I just do not buy it) and now I am almost done Christmas shopping. Home Depot is offering good financing on large appliances, with good sale prices and rebates from manufacturers. I just saved several hundred dollars on a sorely needed upscale refrigerator and microwave with zero percent financing for 18 months. That should be a BF sale, but it is not. I am buying the overwhelming majority of my toys from Amazon because of free shipping, great prices, and most of the survey sites I use allow me to convert my points to Amazon gift cards. Other stores really need to pick up on that because more people are doing surveys for extra cash and it is very rare to be able to get a gift card from another popular store. Even if Amazon is a slightly more expensive than another store (which it rarely is), the gift card still makes it worthwhile to me. And this was the condensed version! Sorry for being long winded!

I think Black Friday is a victim of its own success. It is so popular now that retailers know that people will come. They seem to be less inclined to have truly great deals anymore. I used to do almost all of my Christmas shopping on BF. I bought a few packs of rechargeable batteries last year. I probably won't buy anything this year as I feel that the deals just wont be there. I don't think online shopping will be any better because there is a huge problem with cancellations, but at least we will be able to avoid the flu spreading, cart stealing, face punching jerks that seem to think that being a moron is part of BF "tradition".

I wouldn't have known that they do that if I didn't try to return something I bought for someone and could only find the gift receipt. I knew exactly how much I paid for it, but I bought it at a Kohls near my house and the Kohls I tried to return it to was on the way to my in-laws. I didn't know if that was just that one store's policy or all of Kohls. I would be furious if a family member spent $249 and then the store would only give $50 with a receipt. I hope that their policy has changed since then. I should ask because my niece needs clothes for Christmas and I will not buy from Kohls if they are still doing this.

I got my first cell phone FAR on BF and it lasted four years. We also bought a 50" Panasonic plasma tv four or five years ago that still has a better picture than most sets out there now.

The last time I bought Christmas gifts from Kohls, I found out after the fact that they refund the lowest sales price to the giftee, even with a gift receipt. Is this still going on? I can't understand how this is fair or even legal. I stopped buying gifts from them two or three years ago when I found out, so I haven't bother to ask them.

The only thing I have to say is Kwanzaa. It is spelled Kwanzaa.

I jumped on a BF deal for $1 memory cards and flash drives, only to have half of my order cancelled from Radio Shack without any reason several days later. Those were the only things I needed that year and didn't bother going out on BF because I thought my shopping was done. I was told by them that I was lucky the entire order wasn't cancelled. Great customer service. I'm going to shop more online this year, but I certainly won't be shopping at RS.

actually say and/or do something to the jerks who purposely hit me with their shopping carts. It always happens at Target, and the last person who did it to me giggled when I yelped in pain TWICE! No more! I plan on saying much more than just, "OUCH!" next time. Unless it was an accident, of course. I also vow to do more shopping online.

Wii games and/or accessories GPS units MP3 players Disney DVDs Whatever the hottest, hardest to find toy there is. My sister and one of my in-laws always manage to have whatever it is on the kids' lists. I think they just do that to drive me crazy and I never see their kids play with them!

It depends on the weather and the store. I definitely would not take a young child to Walmart. It gets beyond crazy and he can get hurt or even trampled.

I just talked to the ultimate mooch yesterday. I called my sister to tell her that I will be in physical therapy for the whole month of October. Her response? "Oh GOOD!!!! Does that mean you will get handicapped parking again for Christmas shopping? And let me know what the good deals are this year so I can give you my list for the day after Thanksgiving." Not only can she not buy the newspaper to get the ads, or do her own shopping, or park in a normal parking spot, but she can't even call it Black Friday! And the last time I did her shopping for her, she didn't pay for the sales tax. So NO! I told her I was shopping online this year. She can chew me!

I really think that retailers have learned from the annual "Trampling of the BF shopper at Walmart" and will police the lines better. I also think that they will offer more deals online, and good deals in the days prior to BF just to keep trampling to a minimum. I'm hoping for the online deals. Last year, I got 15 1GB memory sticks for about $8, shipped. That was back in the day when 1GB was something!

I think everyone is getting ready earlier. I was thinking about BF last month, already planning what I wanted. I was in Kohls this past Tues and they were putting up the Christmas trees!! Now what happened to Halloween?

It really depends on what I want to buy. If it is something really hot, like a computer, I'm out by midnight. I come home whenever I am done, usually by noon. Last year was awesome! I did most of my shopping online with Google checkout, and I was in and out of Target. Home within 20 minutes!

I use my initials, too. I have never had a problem. And I usually click the option that doesn't let the company see your post.

I just managed to finish mine. I forgot about the last one!!

I have never had a membership to Sam's and haven't been there in years. They offered about the same sizes as Costco from what I remember. I was just at Costco today. Unless you are willing to eat pounds of fresh fruit and meat per day, neither may be your best bet if you are just going for groceries. I go to Costco for alcohol, dirt (you just can't beat them on their bags of potting soil), and frozen foods. I simply cannot use 10 pounds of tomatoes, onions or potatoes before they rot, even though it is pretty cheap per pound. I mainly buy baby clothes, alcohol, Bagel Bites, and tomato sauce at Costco, along with the occasional rotisserie chicken, and look for better bargains with my coupons at the grocery stores, which can be done quite easily if you know how to shop.

I have heard quite a lot of people use Costco for their wedding flowers. I waited for the big sale at David's Bridal and paid $199 for my wedding dress. I asked everyone I knew and found a retired seamstress to alter my dress. My mother altered the bridesmaid dresses. I paid $19.99 for my shoes at Payless. I had to order them 2 weeks in advance, though. They were pretty comfortable. I found a shop that hand makes the veil and it was $300. That was a lot cheaper than what I saw in the stores and it was made exactly how I wanted it. We did without a videographer because we knew we would probably only watch it once. I would not recommend skimping on a photographer, though. I have heard such horror stories and have seen pictures when friends offer to take pics for free. It is not worth it. We practically went to every photographer in the area and were very pleased with the results. The pictures are beautiful. No one will really remember if you had chicken or beef, or what the song was that you danced to, but people will be looking at the pictures for a long, long time.

I bought mine from the Samsonite outlet store. I see them at sporting goods stores, too.

I see Target and KMart items at some of the auctions I go to. The last auction had about 30 Easy Bake ovens with severe looking damage to the boxes, and people were still paying between $10 and $15 for each of them!

You are most welcome.

Another one is TCEVBABY for 10% off, and they have free shipping on most bedding items.

Kohls just sent a sale paper to me. From 2-15 to 2-20, their entire stock of dental care items will be 10-25% off, plus you get an additional 15% off if you use your Kohls charge on those days. The Oral B Sonic complete will be 79.99 (not including the 15%) and the Sonicare Elite 7300 will be $99.99 (15% not inc.). The Oral B is normally $109.99 and Sonicare is normally $139.99. The replacement heads are on sale as well, but they are still cheaper at Costco, or if you can get them on sale at Target.

Nope! It was an extra 10% if you shopped during the night owl-early bird sale. They are having another 15% if you use your Kohls charge on 2-15 to 2-20. They are also having their kitchen electronics at 10-50% off during those days and the FoodSaver Vac 2440 will be $129.99 (normally $209.99). I didn't know they gave rainchecks! This changes everything!

http://www.insiderpages.com/promos/target Good on new reviews from 2-6 to 3-7-06. $10 max. I wasn't sure where to post this, but assumed since it was online, put it in the online section!