MarkRaby

Linked: Halo 2 (Xbox) http://gottadeal.pricegrabber.com/search_getprod.php/masterid=652765/search=halo%25202 Final Fantasy I&II (GBA) http://gottadeal.pricegrabber.com/search_getprod.php/masterid=3827011/search=final%2520fantasy Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories (GBA) http://gottadeal.pricegrabber.com/search_getprod.php/masterid=2701761/search=kingdom%2520hearts Fur Real Friends http://gottadeal.pricegrabber.com/search_attrib.php?page_id=313&form_keyword=fur+real&rd=1 Weebles (only result from PriceGrabber) http://gottadeal.pricegrabber.com/search_getprod.php/masterid=4333297/search=weebles Terrain Twister RC Car http://gottadeal.pricegrabber.com/search_attrib.php?page_id=313&form_keyword=Terrain+Twister&rd=1 ---- My choices are: Super Mario 64 DS http://gottadeal.pricegrabber.com/search_getprod.php/masterid=4762584/search=super%2520mario%252064 Plug & Play TV Games http://gottadeal.pricegrabber.com/search_attrib.php/page_id=313/form_keyword=tv+games (And for the younger crowd) "E-L-M-O Singing Elmo" http://gottadeal.pricegrabber.com/search_getprod.php/masterid=3106303/search=elmo --Mark--

I don't think that item qualifies for the free shipping (unless I'm doing something wrong). Still a good deal, though. --Mark--

Aha. Just found it at Amazon for $26.23. --Mark--

Tell me about it! I remember getting excited about comic books or trading cards (or the creepy crawler oven -- anyone remember that?). I never could have imagined some of the stuff that's out there now. But, oh well. I guess I had it better than the generation before me. --Mark--

I would really like to get this for my sister for Christmas, but I can't seem to find it anywhere that's much less than the $50 MSRP Here's what I'm looking for: http://shop.lego.com/product.asp?p=4095&CMP=AFC-F1J367247092&HQS=4095 Any help is appreciated. Thanks! --Mark--

We appropriately put our Christmas tree up on Black Friday (in the evening). We keep some gifts hidden until Christmas Eve/Day, but most get put under the tree as soon as they're wrapped (which is usually the same day they're bought). In any event, we have about 60 presents "under" our tree at the moment (of course only a handful can actually fit under it -- the rest get put to the side or in the general vicinity). I'm guessing there will be something like 75 presents awaiting everyone when Christmas finally rolls around. We're a family of 5, by the way. --Mark--

Wow. I've never had that happen to me. I encountered no problem whatsoever using my 10% off coupon with the book that was on sale (and it was only like a 3-day sale I believe). Maybe because I bought some other stuff, he didn't really notice it. But obviously, the register had no problem accepting it. --Mark--

I almost felt like it was another Black Friday today. I'm so excited about my savings that I just had to make a thread here. First off, Meijer had a one-day only sale today. In their flyer for today, they had coupons such as "$6 off any item $30 or more", "$8 off any item $40 or more", etc. Of course, on top of that, they had some good deals. Only one really caught my eye. It was for a Melitta coffeemaker. If you bought a $40 pack of coffee, you got the coffeemaker for free ($50 value). Plus, that big variety pack of coffee is regularly $45. Plus, I had my $8 off coupon for that. I ended up buying two of these (one for mom, one for grandma). Two free $50 coffeemakers, plus $5 off the regular price of the coffee, plus the $8 off coupon for both totals $126 in savings. Onto Borders (much less spectacular) where I had a coupon for 10% off -- but they had John Stewart's "America: The Book" for half off, which I really wanted. So I saved $12.50 there, plus another $6 from the 10% off coupon ($18.50 total savings). Finally, I hit Media Play where they were having a triple points day for their frequent shopper program (Replay). I got a lot of stuff that was on sale (won't go into all the details) and saved a total of $40. Plus, because of the triple points, I spent enough to get back a $35 Replay certificate ($75 total savings). So when you total it all up, that's $219.50 I saved today (and I only spent about $350 -- so it's basically like I got 62% off everything I bought). I know nobody except me would care about this, but I just felt like writing it down somewhere . --Mark--

I'm just curious. I see that Brad and RossMAN joined the forums on 4-15-2004 and 4-17-2004 respectively. --Mark--

There was someone in a previous thread about this who said it best. Wal-Mart got too arrogant and cocky about Black Friday that they just assumed people would come into the store and buy tons of stuff even if there weren't any great deals, just because they're Wal-Mart. Now they are trying to make up for it, but it will be an uphill climb for them because they suffered so much from BF. --Mark--

Thanks for the heads up, RossMAN! I was unaware of these 5-hour specials. I just got the Andrew Lloyd Weber DVD boxset for 10% off, plus I had a $5 off coupon. Not too shabby :). --Mark--

Absolutely -- Having been a member for 14 months now, and earning $270 in reward certificates, I never forget to use my RZ card . --Mark--

Hmm...I was going to pay cash. I get a 1-year manufacturer's warranty, right? If something goes wrong after that, I'll probably just get a new remote anyway. --Mark--

Hey Brad and Ross, thanks very much for your input! After reading that review, I am convinced that I need that remote. Our family does a lot of remote swapping and getting up to power on the DVD player, etc. In fact, our 5-year-old $5 TV remote just died, which is why I stumbled upon this amazing gadget. I've even had to throw out VCR's in the past just because I lost the remote. But I digress. However, I will need to get it from Best Buy as I am paying for a majority of it in Best Buy Bucks/Best Buy gift card. The $40 rebate makes it more bearable to buy it retail. Again, thanks for your feedback! --Mark--

Best Buy's got a $40 MIR on it: http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?id=1087340385484&skuId=6731174&productCategoryId=cat08065&type=product I've got so many things that use different remotes -- Stereo, TV, DVD player, VCR. I keep looking back at it and wondering if it's really worth $200 (or even $160 AR) because that's a lot of money. But there's also the novelty of hooking your remote control to your computer and using the internet to program it. If anyone has anything to say about this (or similar) remotes, please do. Thanks. --Mark--

My mom has ten of these to spend. Yes, she spent over $500 there on BF. It was great, though, because she had a "15% off your entire purchase" coupon -- so combine that with the 10% rate of gift certificates and it was pretty much 23% off (when you do the math correctly) the stuff that was already at good prices because of BF. --Mark--

I did some shopping again today, just for fun, to see any deals I possibly missed that were somehow still available. Here's what I got: Best Buy: Free CD $125 Home Theater Package ($25 MIR) $15 Hercules DVD (not on sale) (10,000 Bonus Reward Zone points for shopping before 10 AM) Office Max: $70 DVD/VCR Combo (not on sale) Media Play: $45 in books, wrapping paper, and bows -- all at 25% off Meijer: $30 Scene It? game FREE Scene It? Sequel pack So that's $75+ in additional "Black Friday" savings (after MIR's) that I got today :). The best part was that the stores were not crowded at all. --Mark--

Haha. Actually, you would be surprised. I was amazed. The Best Buy Bucks created just a bit more of a hassle -- not nearly as much as they should have . However, the cashier's register went offline in the middle of the transaction, and that got the people behind me (as well as me!) a little miffed. --Mark--

Well, I got some good FAR stuff at Office Max and $70 in mail-in rebates at Best Buy -- got $318 in merchandise total and used $300 in Best Buy Bucks towards it, as well as some good deals at other stores. But my mother did much better at Kohl's. I don't know what all she bought, but she spent about $600 on stuff that was all really good deals, had a coupon for 15% off the entire order, and got $100 in gift certificates (you got a $10 one for every $50 you spent). So in addition to saving tons of money on a whole bunch of doorbusters, she also saved an additional $190. --Mark--

I might be using the term "horror story" a little leniently, but I was out of JC Penny at 5:31 (just wanted the snowglobe) and headed to the mall entrance for Sears to get the $10 gift card. There was no one else there, but once I reached it, I found out why: there was a sign posted about the gift card and it said you had to enter through a specific entrance (which happened to be outside of the mall...). So I went to that entrance and was about 130th in line or so (200 gift cards were available). When the doors opened, I was pretty sure I'd get one. But they were out of them long before I even reached the door! This is because they did not have the area blocked off, so people were actually able to enter from the mall entrance, or any other entrance, and run directly to this area and get the gift card without waiting at all! I thought this was very unprofessional, especially considering what a point they made about you needing to go through that specific entrance. --Mark--

I am heading to Best Buy tomorrow to get the free CD and bonus Reward Zone points. It will also give me a chance to check out any of the less-popular Friday&Saturday deals that might still be available without the craziness of today. I am also going to Media Play to get some wrapping paper and bows, which are 20% off, as well as Meijer (which I was not able to get to today). --Mark--

Being up since 4:00 PM Thursday (and only a 2-hour nap since 8:00 AM Thursday), I took a nice 5-hour nap once I got home at 1:00 this afternoon :). --Mark--

Absolutely! Amazing work, you two! --Mark--

Since it opens later (7:00), I am planning on stopping by Sears to get the free $10 gift card and then getting to Office Max by like 6:20. I want some FAR stuff, but if there's a long line ahead of me, I'm not getting my hopes up too high. --Mark--

Updated; thanks :) --Mark--