queenofshopping

on the way, no - it's positively serene on a section of highway that would otherwise be a death trap if i'm not on my way home by 9am, though, it starts to get a lil crazy, especially in the parking lots

i am bouncing with glee & haven't even looked at the ad yet - based on the AMAZING deals i got last year i KNOW i will be going again this year, & i KNOW they will have major sales not advertised not to mention old navy is the single best place EVER for ridiculously cheap clearance *gazes fondly at her $1.98 khakis*

abc123

Ooh, me! I know they're not *supposed* to, but last year, at some point, Kohl's had Hallmark boxed cards & ornaments on sale (though possibly at different times). Any idea if this may happen again this year? Also, doesn't Kohl's usually have a 50% off day (a Wednesday?) sometime in November? Bah, I've forgotten all the details from years past! Thanks for offering your help!

Kohl's is the best place to be your last stop. The last 2 years I've gotten there by around 8 after going to 2 or 3 other stores &, while the checkout line wraps around the entire store, if you go with someone the switching places thing is an awesome way to shop - plus there are so many good deals scattered around the store you'll pass while on line. I may have gotten a few dirt cheap things at WM & Target, but overall Kohl's saved me the most.

There should have been 2 in the Sunday paper - the toy book, and the regular weekly circular.

painkillers...lots and lots of painkillers i'm tempted to bring a flask with some kind of liquor as well...

Oh goodness, where do I start? 1) A few people said don't take your purse in - well for me that's just impractical. Yes, regular purses are just asking for trouble - I use a small messenger bag with a very long strap that I wear across my chest (the actual bag part ends up in front of me near my hip)...it's expandable & closes with a buckle thing like on a fanny pack. Absolutely indispensable! 2) Second everyone who said make sure your cell is fully charged! 3) If you get together with family on Thanksgiving, thrust the circulars in front of your young relatives & force them to pick out a few things they might want for Xmas! It's so much easier than to just ask them what they want. 4) GET MULTIPLE HARD COPIES OF CIRCULARS! I cannot stress this enough. Often when you take one to get something price matched they will keep the paper...if you want to PM 2 things from the Target circular, one at BB & one at WM, for example, you're going to need 2 copies, especially if the items are on the same page! Ask your relatives to bring all their ads with them to Thanksgiving if they're not going to need them! 5) Choose your first store carefully. Make lists & go over them 4 or 5 times. Ask yourself 'can this be pricematched elsewhere?' 'how crowded is this store likely to be?' 'do I *really* need this?' etc. Once you see all the ads & are making your lists, ask some of the veterans here which items are likely to still be in stock a few hours after the store opens so you know what you really need to try hardest for. 6) On BF, whenever you plan to leave...leave a half hour earlier! If there's no major line you can always sit in your car. 7) If you're going alone, make friends with the people around you on line. If it's cold where you live, as it is for most of us, consider bringing a thermos of something hot, or stop off at Dunkin Donuts etc & pick up a few extra cups of what you're drinking. Not only will getting to know people help for holding your place while you use the restroom, etc., if you encounter these people once you're inside they can be great allies - on BF '05 a woman I made friends with knew I was looking for a certain item &, when she got hers, grabbed an extra for me just in case - I didn't get there in time to get it but she had one just for me! 8) Forget the cart, especially if you're doing WM as your first store - that's just asking for trouble. BF '05 I had a cart & proceeded to load it up with the bigger items I was getting, but then I got stuck in one area (who the hell thought to put toys right next to electronics, I ask you?!) where it was, as my mother would say, cheek-to-jowl. Anyone with a cart pretty much had to abandon it. Even if you have to kick something along the ground as you go, it's still better than risking getting blocked in because you won't give up your cart! 9) Dress in layers! Sure, you may need to be dressed for the Arctic for the waiting *outside* of the store, but what about inside? If you're going somewhere that's likely to have just as big of a checkout line as a line to get in, it can get very hot very fast from all that body heat! I like to layer a few tank tops/tees, plus a nice thick hoodie - great because when you take it off you can just wrap it around your waist! 10) Don't stress. Believe me when I say it will NOT be the end of the world if you can't get that $20 DVD player or $5 action figure! There's a good chance it'll be on sale again before Xmas anyway for only a few dollars more - and those few dollars are NOT a big enough difference to sacrifice your sanity! Good luck everyone!

Welcome, & best of luck! I've had the best times on BF when I chatted with the people in line around me! For the most part people tend to be more than willing to keep your place while you take a quick break to use the restroom, etc - I've even seen strangers helping each other out by keeping their place (& telling off anyone trying to make something of it) for 10 or 15-minute breaks to sit in their cars when it was really, really cold!

I've gone to just walk in at around 9, when I had finished my other shopping, & there was *still* a line just to get in! Mind it did move pretty quickly, but still, I thought that was rather ridiculous!

I think these may be the same ones that are currently $5.50 in the big bin at my WM. Usually I don't even bother to look cos they stink but I did dig through a few weeks ago & was pleasantly surprised! Though I do agree with trumpet that Target is great for more recent/popular stuff at good prices - that's where I've gotten a lot of TV boxed sets on BF.

That was *exactly* what happened at my WM in '05! I was ready to strangle the idiotic employees who did nothing about it.

My cousin was a big BF'er...when she passed away in 2004 (about a week before BF, actually) I sort of took over. This will be my third season on the forums here!

haha, sounds like me at 10!

when i went i had plenty of time so i wrote a bunch of it down, im sure the security ppl thought i was a corporate spy or something lol note i scribbled this on the back of a receipt so i wont swear to any of the exact prices (might be 4.28 instead of 4.26, etc) almay...something (looks like i wrote t? kt..help me out?) was $8.54 now $4.27 revlon colorstay nailpolish sets was $4.99 now $2.48 revlon eyeglide creme eyeshadow pens was 5.99 now 2.84 revlon colorstay concealer was 8.29 now 4.14 all caboodles & bonne bell (looks like they're getting rid of em) 50% off (both make great eyeshadows!) all max factor 30% off lots of foundations, incl maybelline shine free, everfresh, true illusion, neutrogena clean tint & compact ones, & 1 or 2 from other brands 30% off lots of physicians formula 50% off sonia kashuk white train case (very cute!) was 16.99 now 4.24 sonia kashuk travel skincare set was 29.99 now 7.48 tommy & tommygirl perfume sampler sets 50% off (now ~$8 & 11) lucky whatever, sunflowers, bod man, red door, curious, drakkar noir, orange county choppers, & a bunch of other fragrance sets cheap (at least 50% off) 1000 cotton swabs bag was 2.49 now 1.47 i scored a set w/ almay onecoat mascara & eyeliner for like $1.50!! there was also a bunch more random stuff on an endcap but i couldnt write it all down...i remember there were 2 or 3 shades of loreal color pulse for like $3 (i know lively auburn & copper something were 2 of them), & a few sally hansen nail prisms also for like $3

free same day installation w/ purchase of car decks $99 & up there are 4 decks total but 3 seem to just be padding, only one has instant savings: dual 55-watt x 4-channel ipod-ready cd deck; xm ready w/ mp3/wma playback; 2 preouts $149.99 installed AIS there are also some xm-type receivers

this should prob be in the deal discussion thread...i guess ross isn't on patrol tonight

cds (2 pages worth this week): new releases: matchbook romance - voices $9.99; sergio mendes - timeless $9.99; los lobos - best of $11.99 $7.99: all-american rejects - move along; miranda lambert - kerosene; relient k - mm hmm; rascal flatts - melt; bob marley & the wailers - exodus $9.99: keyshia cole - the way it is; neil diamond - 12 songs; james blunt - back to bedlam; enya - amarantine; shakira - oral fixation vol 2; faith hill - fireflies; sevendust - next (cd/dvd); totally country vol 5; avenged sevenfold - city of evil; trisha yearwood - jasper county; korn - see you on the other side; sublime - 40 oz to freedom; jay-z - vol 2 hard knock life; gorillaz - gorillaz; falling up - dawn escapes; kenny chesney - no shoes, no shirt, no problem; eazy-e - eazy-duz-it; mary mary - mary mary $11.99: eminem - curtain call; gwen stefani - love angel music baby; weezer - make believe; daddy yankee - barrio fino en directo (cd/dvd); pussycat dolls - pcd; mary j blige - the breakthrough; black eyed peas - monkey business; ashlee simpson - i am me; jamie foxx - unpredictable; santana - all that i am; rod stewart - great amer songbook vol 4; nickelback - all the right reasons; david gray - life in slow motion; il divo - ancora; coldplay - parachutes; wilco - being there; crosby, stills, & nash - crosby stills & nash; daniel tosh - true stories i made up (cd/dvd); usher - 8701; talking heads - speaking in tongues dualdisc (out tuesday); thelonious monk quartet w/ john coltrane - at carnegie hall; pink floyd - wish you were here; ladysmith black mambazo - long walk to freedom; jeremy camp - live unplugged $13.99: richard pryor - evolution/revolution $14.99 - kenny g - essential dvds: new releases: saw II $15.99; nba street series v3 $17.99; com central roast of pamela anderson $12.99; nine lives $19.99; proof $19.99; in her shoes $19.99 (out now); elizabethtown $19.99 (out now)...others without prices: grey's anatomy s1, zathura tv shows on dvd: living single s1 $21.99; fresh prince s3 $21.99; gimme a break s1 $22.99; charles in charge s1 $22.99; he-man masters s1 $24.99; the pretender s3 $29.99; buffy: $15 off when you buy any season - s1 $17.99 AS, s2-7 $34.99 AS $5 off, $14.99 AIS: mr & mrs smith; fantastic 4; kingdom of heaven; roll bounce; rebound 2/$15: must love dogs; the wedding singer; two weeks notice; wimbledon; you've got mail; the terminal; romeo + juliet; moulin rouge; how to lose a guy in 10 days; a walk to remember; my big fat greek wedding; love & basketball; pleasantville; grease; the cat in the hat; the sandlot 2; bratz rock angelz; old school; collateral; proof of life; bourne identity; league of extraordinary gentlemen; dawn of the dead; the ring; white noise; the thing; shaun of the dead; seed of chucky; chron of riddick; van helsing

gc is free w/ quicken deluxe 2006, which is $29.99 AR when you buy turbotax deluxe or premier

vgn-tx650p/b

nope, sorry, they seem to be featuring toshiba & hp laptops this week...only sony is a business-type one for $2100

well good luck with your decision!

WAIT!!! lol when i was looking for bcbgirl's software i saw them! 2/3 of the page is taken up by a stupid vonage thing so i missed it (somehow) the first 3 times i looked thru the circular...there's 1 internal hd & 2 external, here's the internal: hitachi 160gb 7200rpm model #h3160b72p $69.99 after (wow!) $60 IS sorry i misled ya

sorry, no professional-type cameras, just your normal fare, up to 6mp cheaper dig cams: fujifilm finepix 5.2mp w/ 3x optical zoom, model #a350 $169.99 AIS ($30) olympus stylus 6mp w/ 3x optical zoom, model #stylus 600 $251.99 AIS ($48) those are the 2 cheapest ones sorry, no photoshop-type software, just tax & system stuff

$499 laptop: toshiba w/ intel celeron m processor 380 dvd/cd-rw combo drive 512mb ddr2 total memory after in-store upgrade 60gb hard drive 802.11g wireless lan ati mobility radeon xpress 200m graphics model a105-s101 $729.99 notebook + $78.99 memory & installation = $808.98 - $230 bb instant savings - $78.99 instant savings = $499.99