BFGirl

It's been a long day of shopping. I didn't get to bed from the Thanksgiving Day festivities and clean up until 12:30 am. I got to Home Depot just after it opened at 6 am to pick up a DeWalt Battery. 6 were in stock. I got one. Then I grabbed some of their storage totes and a step ladder. There were three left. I didn't wait in line at all. I left there and went to Old Navy. I picked up one item. They had 4 people working the register. I stood in line for about a minute. From there I went to Bath & Body Works to pick up lotion and hand sanitizer. Two people were in front of me there. I didn't need any BF items at Walmart but since I was passing by it, I stopped to pick up stocking stuffers. This was the first time I set foot in Walmart on Black Friday. It was as busy as it is on a weekday around lunch. They had enough people working the registers to keep the lines moving. I didn't notice any lines at all. The guy working the register was roaming around waiting for customers. He said this store was busier than the store he typically works at on Black Friday. I looked around and thought, "If this is busy, he must have never seen Walmart 20 years ago." However, I did notice that the Pick Up area was super busy. I think a lot of people were ordering online for pick up. My final stop was Boscov's. I picked up some items there. There was no line there either. It was busier than Walmart! It was fun and festive. People were running into one another and stopping to chat. I didn't realize how much I missed that positive background noise of shopping until then. By the time I got home, it was 10:30 am. I spent the next five hours shopping online for the items I couldn't find in store. So many things were sold out online too so I scrambled to find alternatives that would still be in the budget. Once that was done, I wrapped the gifts that I bought today . When I received a few more gift ideas from family tonight, I decided to see if any of those items were on sale. I made my final BF purchase at 11:45 pm. I did notice security was driving around the parking lot at Walmart. I had never seen that before. However, there is a big South American retail theft ring that has been hitting the stores in this area for the last 18 months. A lot of things are locked up anymore. The phone stores now have metal security windows. My dd said Target has underwear locked up. She also noticed that there were lines to get into the high end stores because they were only allowing a couple of people to shop at a time.

I was thinking the same thing. I'm thinking about getting them for our garage. Our organization uses them for storage in an outdoor unit. They seems to hold up well over these last 4 years. I don't think they are waterproof which is what I need in our basement due to flooding issues in our area. We have the Rubbermaid Roughneck totes and they are waterproof. I think we are going to get the DeWalt 12 Ah Battery and the DeWalt leaf blower bundle. Thanks for the reminder about batteries. I haven't done any pricing yet.

In the past almost all gifts for my kids and husband were bought on BF and then Cyber Monday. This year I ordered gifts from Amazon's early BF sale on Saturday. When I was scouting out the BF sale at Walmart, I saw some clearanced items that I ordered. All of those orders arrived this afternoon. I was not expecting that! I think this is the earliest I had so many gifts in the house. I was hoping to wrap them tonight but I got caught up in the Walmart sale. I will be wrapping on BF after shopping in the stores. I try to get as much done on that day as possible. I am a geek when it comes to tracking gifts and wrapping them. I have a spread sheet with the names of family. Underneath their name is gift ideas and links to those items. Next to the gift idea is the cost of the item. I color code the items that have been ordered online "Red." This means I am waiting for it to arrive. Once the item is in the house (bought in person or delivered), it gets colored "Yellow." When the item is wrapped, then it gets color coded "Green." It is ready to go.

Where I work is closed on Friday. BF is the one day that I love to go out shopping for bargains. I will buy Christmas gifts but I will also take advantage of the sales for general household items that need to be replaced.

This is my first time buying online from Walmart on a Black Friday sale. For what ever reason, they usually don't have what I need. I just picked up some Wrangler Jeans for my husband. It's the only brand he'll wear. I also picked up an Eric Carle book for my grand-niece. I have been using the filter for Walmart only items but the link from the email on the Walmart only Black Friday sale was very helpful and very much appreciated. Thank you!

Sounds like a good challenge!

I was all excited about this and then remembered that all the JCPenny stores near by closed down. I will live vicariously through those of you with store nearby.

I will be heading out too. I don't know what I will be looking for yet. I prefer to shop in person to get the items needed and wrapped that day. If I can't find them in person, then I order them online when I get home. I hope to sit down this weekend and make a shopping plan.

A gift that I received a few years ago from my parents, that I didn't know I needed until I had it, was a platform ladder. Besides using it for painting, it's been used as a bench and a table for camping.

These ideas have been well-received with the older family members. We found that frozen meals have been a great help. I've been thanked at various points in the year when family was able to pull out a frozen meal on an especially difficult day.

29 days! I'm getting my spreadsheet prepped today.

I have nothing specific at this point. I used to buy a lot of toys and clothes on Black Friday for my kids. Now that most of them are adults, I've been listening for ideas when we get together. I haven't gotten any ideas from them. I do keep a running list of general ideas as back up.

The "Kotton Kandy" machine for $9.98 would have been fun! Being the geek that I am, I put that price into a inflation calculator and today is would cost $102.83.

I love Black Friday shopping. I don't like shopping in general but the early-in-the-morning-Black-Friday-shopping-when-it-is-still-dark-outside is my favorite shopping day of the year.