Tara3117

I overbuy every year because I never think about what I'm spending until I get home. When I figure it all out, I just sell off the extra stuff to fit back in my budget. Every family member last year got something I bought but then sold to someone else to give them. My family loves it - cheap stuff without having to wait in line!

Wonderful Christmas Time (I think) by Paul McCartney. I used to work at a grocery store and that was ALWAYS on the Musicak during the holidays!

I have about $700 from my Christmas Club this year, so that's my Christmas budget. I usually do all of my shopping on BF, but I usually end up over-buying and selling things to my various family members to give each other. Since I bought a house this year, I've had my eye on some bigger ticket house stuff (mostly kitchen stuff) that I might have to splurge on. My family doesn't do BF, so if I want expensive stuff on sale, I have to buy it myself.

There is no place more depressing than Big Lots on Thanksgiving. I went last year to grab one thing my Dad had asked for. There were more people there than I expected, but everyone was really quiet. It gave me the creeps. I think this year I'd rather pay a little extra and not hit the stores on Thanksgiving. Well, except the convenience store to get the fat newspaper with the "official" BF ads!

$14.99 Thank You Very Much!

Couldn't agree more! I had the biggest problem with CompUSA last year. They rang some stuff in wrong, so I had to go back to have them fix it, but the rebate place didn't accept the returned receipt. It wasn't worth the hassle. Every rebate I've gotten from Staples has come in pretty quickly. I much prefer the online versions!

Every year I swear I'm going to wrap them on BF when I get home. And every year, I'm up early Christmas morning, wrapping just the ones that need to go under the tree NOW! I'm a bad wrapping planner.

Hard Core!!! But you know what, that sounds wonderful! Last year, I was at Best Buy and the girl was like, "If you had your Circuit City Ad, this would be $13.99." I swore then that I was never leaving an ad behind!

I go alone every year. Other people slow me down! I'd say the only time that it's kinda lonely is when you're waiting in to get into a store. But that's usually only once. People are pretty friendly though (let's face it, we're all nuts to be out there!) so you can always get into a conversation if you want one.

I do a lot of shopping at Macy's. I know I was able to get a silver bracelet with a heart charm that had a little diamond chip in it for $20 (originally $60 I think), and purse for my sister-in-law and luggage for my parents. If you have the credit card, you can get an extra 10 or 15% off too, which is pretty great. I think they had some kind of special going on too, like "scratch off the box for an extra discount" card or something.

I've received all of my manufacturers rebates, except one that I didn't send out until after Christmas. I have not received ANYTHING from CompUSA (except a headache).

The parking lots here were SUPER icy. It snowed on Thursday, but the plows didn't do a good job. I fell in Target's parking lot getting out of my car. It's a recipe for disaster - people slipping, other drivers not paying attention because they're too busy looking for parking than watching pedestrians. I'm surprised more people don't get hurt in parking lots.

I bought luggage for my parents at Kohl's, but returned them later in favor of a set I found at Filene's. I'll return that set before Christmas if I find it in blue. I'm not too thrilled about black luggage. I'm also thinking about returning The Grinch to Best Buy. They didn't have the widescreen version, so I grabbed full screen. It was in a pile of stuff the employees found misplaced around the store. Can't be picky with the last one in the store...

I mailed my 8 rebates today. I got the $3 wireless router and 3 $3 adapters from CompUSA. It was a pain though because they rang up 3 notebook adapters instead of 2 notebook and 1 desktop adapters. And they didn't give me a separate receipt for the 2nd notebook adapter because it's one per household. So I had to take my order back so they could ring in the right adapter and give me a 2nd receipt. Nothing like fronting $160 because of rebates!! Nevermind the other thing I bought there that was actually a gift. I can't cut the UPC off the gift, so I hope I remember to ask for the UPC after Christmas. At least it's only my boyfriend's gift, so he won't think I'm cheap for wanting the rebate. $20 is a lot of money!

I thought Target was a little nuts. One woman in the Toy section whipped Ants in the Pants out of an employee's hands while she was trying to stock the shelf. She caught the poor girl in the chin in the process. The electronics department was no better. You couldn't get anywhere and people were screaming at the poor employees for not having what they wanted. The best part about Target is that the gave rainchecks for things they didn't have. I thought Best Buy should get the most improved award. They had pretty much everything I was looking for, price matched, and the line was only a half hour (which was pretty good considering the amount of people they were pushing through at the time).

I would have gone to bed earlier - BF shopping on 2 hours sleep didn't cut it this year. And I would have worn earmuffs when I was waiting in line at Kohl's. Except I wouldn't have gone to Kohl's if I could do it again because the luggage I wanted totally wasn't worth the trip!

It's supposed to be 38 degrees in Boston that day, so I'll definitely be layered in the morning and will probably shed clothes as they day goes on.

I've been trying to figure out what to get my boyfriend's sister. Every time I ask him, he tells me not to bother get her anything (they aren't that close). Since that's not really an option I want to take, I'm kind of stumped. I've given her gifts in the past, so I feel like if I didn't this year, it would be weird. I hate giving gift cards. I don't really know what she's into except drinking. PLEASE HELP! Thanks in advance!!!

I live right on the NH border, so we go out at the crack of dawn and get all that tax-free shopping. And, of course, all the major stores are centrally located because it's a border town. Then I go home and take a nap for Round 2. Who doesn't love a marathon!?!

My boyfriend can't understand it at all. But Gporter is right - it's a sport! The year everyone called me crazy was the year I did BF and still made it to work for 8:30. Now they know nothing will stop me!

Target does rainchecks for their BF sales. I got one last year for Monopoly I think. So even if you make that your last stop, or go on Saturday, you can still get what you want at the good price. Target is always my last stop because of that. Besides, the toy aisles are so small (at least at the one here) that everyone is stepping on everyone else. No Thank You! I'd rather go to TRU and have them price match Target's ad.

I don't think stores are losing too much on the BF sales. If you consider that BF no longer has the highest sales volumes, the stores aren't doing too badly. Anything that they lose on BF will almost definitely be made up on the Saturday before Christmas.

Oh, here's another thing. Find out if the stores you're going will price match another store's ad. I know Toys R Us does anyway. You might be able to save yourself a trip somewhere.

If it were me, I would go to Best Buy first. They usually have the longest lines, and they're just going to get worse as the day goes on. If you get in when they open and do your shopping quickly, you may not need to wait too long. My other strategy is to start at the place that opens first. If you get through Best Buy in an hour, you might still make Sears in time for the gift card (assuming they are close by). Hope that helps!

My parents put a little solar powered calculator in my stocking when I was like 8. They were probably thinking that they needed one more thing to even my stocking with my brother's. Do you know I'm still carrying that same calculator in my purse?