budgetsRsexy

I’m loving living vicariously through you guys! With my health and the pandemic, going out shopping and to the post office really isn’t in my best interests so I bowed out for this year but I’ll definitely be doing SS again next year. Really looking forward to seeing what everyone gets [emoji16]

Somehow I didn’t notice that they did advent calendars but it’s a super cute idea. I’ll definitely try to grab one of the jerky ones (my dog doesn’t really seem to care for dry biscuits).

I don’t see Hallmark on the list which is surprising. I wonder if I can get away with getting my ornaments on the cheap there this year.

It snowed yesterday and I turned on the Christmas music because of it. It was the first time I actually was even thinking about Christmas or BF. I haven’t even had the urge to look at the ads yet but hopefully that will change. It’s been hard to get excited but I’m going to try to change that by this weekend.

Glad to see this! Now fingers crossed I don’t muck it up again this year [emoji3]

I’m with ilikefree. This year is just so different that I’m not obsessively checking the forums for ads. I’m hoping that I’ll get more excited as we get closer but right now I’m definitely not anticipating it like normal. Hopefully reading the threads on here will help have everyone else’s excitement rub off on me.

I also take advantage of the kohl’s bra sale, it’s hard to beat their BF prices especially if you have a coupon code you can use on top of the sale price. I also tend to get new sheets and poinsettias. If my brand of dog food is on sale I’ll grab that too. Wow, looking back at my post I feel super boring.

I sure hope so, but I would think they would have to do it as a one week sale (while supplies last). It seems like with something as finicky as a living plant they wouldn’t want to do it too early in the holiday season.

Long time no see everyone. I was struggling a bit with depression since late summer and I fell off the face of the planet for a while. I’ve found that really limiting my screen time (the news and social media in particular) has been extremely helpful for my mental health. I missed you all though and I’m glad I’m back in the forums. I’ve just caught up on the posts and I’m glad most everyone is doing well, considering the strange COVID times. Looking forward to all the conversations in the different threads!

Because of COVID I haven’t been spending as much since March as I can’t go out to the stores to shop. I don’t really have many gifts I need to buy but I suspect that I’ll end up spending more this year as I will be going to small/local businesses instead of major retailers. I won’t get the same great deals but I know local businesses are really struggling and I want to give them my money because I want them to survive and to still be around next year. I’m also in the high risk category and I suspect there will not be the same crowds at smaller businesses so that’s a win win for me. I anticipate spending $100 over my normal gift budget.

I’m looking forward to Hallmark’s Christmas in July as well but I’ve been pretty content since we got 1 month of Disney plus this past Friday so that we could watch Hamilton and The Mandalorian. I was in love with baby yoda aka the child long before I ever saw the show and now I’m just obsessed. I’m only watching 1 episode a night to make the fun last a little bit longer.

Funny, I was thinking the opposite. I feel like 2020 has been the longest year of my life and I’m only half way through it [emoji33]

I fall in a high risk category for Covid-19 so I’ve avoided people as much as I can. I haven’t been to a store in months but it’s been tough. Ive been getting a bit stir crazy so today my husband and I got up and went to the city’s public market together. It opens at 5 and the die yards are there right when it opens but it doesn’t normally get busy until 8. We went at 6 to be safe. It’s outdoors plus they require everyone to wear masks so I felt like it was a safe compromise to get me out of the house. It was also nice to support local businesses that I’m certain have been struggling. We normally only go a couple times a year but I suspect that it will be more often this year as I’m so limited. Who knew I would miss shopping so much

Thank goodness our temperatures dropped significantly today. We top off our mulch every couple of years and our mulch order of 10 cubic yards was delivered/dumped on our driveway yesterday. Every time I have stopped to catch my breath over the last 5 hours either my husband or I comment on how unbearable it would be to spread the mulch in the heat we had up through yesterday.

We hit the 90s in upstate NY earlier this week and that’s way out of our norm for May. I hate the heat so I’ve been grumpy all week. Can’t believe that it’s less than 6 months until Black Friday!

I think spending will be down this year. A lot of people have been laid off or are scared that they will be so they’ve cut back on spending on nonessentials. I think the unemployment numbers will improve over time but it will be a LONG time before we get even close to where things stood before the pandemic. And then you have a lot of people scared by the possibility of second or third waves. Everyone I know seems like they are putting as much as they can into savings in case of another round of layoffs.

I’m in week 5 of working remotely from home and the days kind of just blur together. I miss seeing people. As much as I love my husband what I would give to see another persons face right about now.

Black Friday will absolutely be very different this year. Even if the current crisis is completely over (which I doubt as there are risks for future waves happening), I think the fear will still be too fresh in many people’s minds. You will definitely not see the crowds like before. I suspect that any retailer that does still push for the normal in store BF crowd experience (you know there will be at least 1 that try’s in desperation for sales as the retailer sector is taking a big hit right now) will get lots of bad press. I suspect that a majority of people won’t risk going out and online numbers will surge. It will be interesting to see how this will impact BF going forward. People may find they like the ease of online shopping more and that could cause even fewer shoppers bothering to go out in the crowds next year. Stores should be preparing now for huge online sales and the toll it will take on their servers etc. Having a website crash this year will hurt the store more than in past years. No store can risk the loss of sales or the bad press that comes with website issues this year.

After 20 hours of overtime this past weekend trying to get everything paperless, I’m now working from home for the first time in my life (not sure for how long, we had a major layoff on Friday in response to NY governors executive order). It’s odd being by myself and not talking to others. I wonder if I’ll be more or less productive from home. My husband still has to go to work as he is employed by an essential business. I’m grateful that he’s still employed but at the same time I’m not thrilled that he has to be around others so much. We are taking precautions wherever possible but it’s still a little scary. Stay safe everyone!

Oh my word, I love it! I’ll have to watch it sparingly though or else I’m pretty sure I would end up divorced by the time quarantine is over [emoji12]

Happy leap year everyone! I’ve spent the extra day taking my dog to a new park that has a scheduled dog playtime group. It was chilly but fun, and resulted in a tired out dog which is the real measure of success. Tonight my husband and I are going to do an extra grocery run to get a few extra supplies as my husband has been very concerned by all the Coronavirus reports. Can’t believe February has come and gone already.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.usatoday.com/amp/4681959002 According to the above USA Today article these are the first store locations set to close (alphabetical by state): California Antioch: Somersville Towne Center, 2500 Somersville Road. San Diego: Horton Plaza Park, 160 Horton Ave. Connecticut Meriden: Westfield Meriden, 470 Lewis Ave. Florida Miami: The Falls Mall (Bloomingdales), 8778 SW 136th St. Pompano Beach: Pompano Citi Centre, 1200 NE 23rd St. Sanford: Seminole Towne Center, 330 Towne Center Circle. Vero Beach: Indian River Mall, 6200 20th St. Georgia Decatur: The Gallery at South DeKalb, 2731 Candler Road. Macon: Macon Mall, 3661 Eisenhower Parkway. Hawaii Waikoloa Village: Kings’ Shops, 69-250, 6 Waikoloa Beach Drive. Idaho Lewiston: Lewiston Center Mall, 1806 19th Ave. Illinois Carbondale: University Mall, 1237 E Main St. West Dundee: Spring Hill Mall, 1000 Spring Hill Mall. Indiana Muncie: Muncie Mall, 3501 N Granville Ave. Kansas Prairie Village: Prairie Village Shopping Center, 4000 W 71st St. Kentucky Owensboro: Towne Square Mall, 5000 Frederica St. Maryland Salisbury: The Centre at Salisbury, 2304 N Salisbury Blvd. Massachusetts Leominster: The Mall at Whitney Field, 106 Commercial Road. Montana Helena: Helena Northside Center, 3405 N Montana Ave. New York Commack: Commack Shopping Center, 2 Veterans Memorial Highway. Hicksville: Broadway Commons, 100 Broadway Mall. North Carolina Winston-Salem: Hanes Mall, 3320 Silas Creek Parkway. Ohio Cincinnati: Northgate Mall, 9531 Colerain Ave. St. Clairsville: Ohio Valley Mall, 67800 Mall Ring Road. Stow: Stow-Kent Plaza, 4301 Kent Road. Pennsylvania Harrisburg: Harrisburg East Mall, 3501 Paxton St. State College: Nittany Mall, 2901 E College Ave. Tennessee Goodlettsville: RiverGate Mall, 1000 Rivergate Parkway. Washington Burlington: Cascade Mall, 700 Cascade Mall Drive. Seattle: Downtown, 300 Pine St. Walla Walla: Downtown, 54 E Main St. None in my area are closing yet, but It wouldn’t really matter to me personally as I hardly ever shop there. I hope this list doesn’t affect any of you in a negative way.

Quick question on the forum rules: is it ok to post a new thread under the Black Friday page heading even though it’s just related to the holidays and not actually BF? Or should I wait until closer to BF when we get the other holiday subheading? I would post my request for ideas in this thread but I think it would get lost over time with all the different and other fun conversations we have on here.

It’s hard to resist but I’ve been really good about not buying Christmas stuff during the clearance deals this year. Normally I pick up decorations, or things to use for Valentines Day and Easter baskets but we are trying to not accumulate more stuff for our long term retirement plan. I only bought a 4 pack of small gift bags at Joanns because I’ve run out and they are the size I use most often.