redraccoon

This is the one store that we line up for early. I go with my mom every year. Mind you.... I use this opportunity to buy a lot of fabric for the Linus Project, Girl Scouts, and the annual making of flannel PJ's for the entire family. Between sales and coupons its by far the best BF place for me... So... as I mentioned, we go EARLY. Scoping out ahead of time isn't that helpful as they move things the night before (at mine anyway) ... sale items could be anywhere. If you're a frequent customer and get to know the employees you might be able to pry a hint out of them if you go in the day before. As far as fabric goes, we usually will head right for the cut counter TICKET thingy and pull a number and then start loading up on the fabrics we want. Depending on the crowd we might go for fabric first and then one of us wander over and get a number after we've loaded a few things. Definitely do not wait to finish selecting before getting a number. Once we have selected what we want from what we can get our paws on ... one of us will usually hang out by the cut counter to snag bolts as others get done with their selection. If you miss something on first run, this is usually a good way to get it. It can take forever for them to put it back out on the display - and that's IF it doesn't get claimed before they even make the effort. We take a list too of any other items that we might want... scissors, thread, crafts ect.... while one person waits the check out, the other person can cruise the store and get those items. Alternately - if you're by yourself, you can get these things while waiting for your cut number to be called. If you're after a big ticket item... say a pricey Rowenta iron or a Cricut - best bet is to nab the first employee and ask where they are and grab that first. Overall the crowd is generally more civilized than, say, Walmart... but it can still be a madhouse.

I'm just starting to peruse the ads other than Walmart and Target... so thought I'd just ask in case someone else is looking for the same thing. I almost always buy a few sets of Queen & Full flannel sheets on BF. For $25 or less I figure its okay if they only last a year. But my usual source (Target) isn't offering them this year ... at least not in the size I need (ad only says Twin size) Anyone see any good deals?

Blah.... very disappointed. Target is my usual stop for new flannel sheets, throws, and/or blankets. Not impressed with what they are offering this year at all. I don't need or want any electronics or kitchen gadgets... even for gifts. *sigh* Looks like I'll be shopping elsewhere this year.

The Target ad is the one I always look for .... waiting impatiently

The big Wallys that I frequent has had the "We're sorry but Walmart will no longer be price matching" notice on their doors for some time now.

waiting waiting waiting....

Well, that's unfortunate. They usually have a couple things I like - but I'm not skipping out on family time to go shopping. Wonder what kind of ad they'll have this year

My sister has decided this is her new favorite place to shop. I've never even been to one. Do they do BF? Surely they do... but haven't seen any discussion. Thoughts?

Towels and sheets are always on our BF interest radar. Nice thing about those is that they are not usually "hot ticket" items - so no waiting in line or fighting people to get to the display!

Microwavable travel mugs with good lid mousepads Notepads / post-it type pads PENS ... omg I use sooooo many pens in any given month, I could always use more Amazon gift cards will be amazing.... key chains, thumb drives .... wireless mouse ... mousi .. mouses... whatever... I seem to lose and or kill my wireless mouse devices on a regular basis

Biscohito cookies (made with lard for the most authentic taste) Posole....... and making tamales with extended family....mmmm.... Christmas in New Mexico. I will dig around for the recipes I use - a lot of my stuff is currently in boxes. In the meantime - you might check out this page - their recipes are pretty close http://www.visitalbuquerque.org/albuquerque/cuisine/recipes/holiday-recipes/

Oh, the annual tradition is right on time ... lol

Sad but true... it used to be a lot more fun. You could find deals that were actually deals. I refuse to shop on Thursday. I just will not do it. And BF has become mostly getting deals on fabric that I use for charity donations. kinda meh....

We did Thanksgiving with family early this year and I was just hanging around the house when my sister called to see if I could help her find a Wii U. After trying online I gave up and decided to head to the Target up the street. I missed the line and the doors opening rush arriving at about 6:10pm. Still managed to get the game system - as well as some sheets and a fuzzy blanket. Score! Friday morning was just a quick trip to Joann fabrics. Got a bunch of fleece for cheap and it didn't take long. Christmas jammies and baby blanket to come... Overall spent less time and a lot less money than in years past. Just no really good deals on stuff I actually need or want.

Well I decided last minute to just tromp on over the Target up the street. I got there at about 6:10. Missed the line and the crush to get in... but still managed to score the Wii U that I was after. And since I was there I picked up a couple of household items I was interested in as well. By the time I got up to the line to check out they had that well under control and I didn't wait long at all. Whoo hoo for me. One less thing to do tomorrow!

I'm trying to get the Wii U bundle for my sister... anyone have luck with buying for pick up? I got it halfway processed then the site froze.

I'd be a one stop shopper.... Target - close, easy, and back to my sleep! Nikon Cool Pics camera $99.99 Lego Dimensions $79.99 Melissa & Doug Loom $20 R/C Zombie monster truck $15 Lego City set $55 Lego Creator set $55 Fisher Price Little People Big Animal Zoo $23.99 Cabbage Patch travel set $29 Razor electric scooter $90 Roomba $319 Crayola virtual design pro $15 Norelco shaver $34 Keurig $79.99 Polaroid Android tablet $49.99 Barbie glam convertible $29 ...... all that and I'd be just under - but I would have 99% of my holiday shopping done!

Hmm... probably our biggest single transaction was at walmart on Thursday. Got a portable basketball hoop, many clothing items (bunches of socks for donating), archery set, DVD's, picture frames, and some other miscelleana ... total, about $212. Oh, and I did spend over $100 ordering Cherished Girl & Christian themed t-shirts for various family members from http://www.kerusso.com/

I'm going to look for that mop! I have to run to WM for some other stuff anyway - can't hurt to check. Went with a friend to pick up snacks for football Saturday - they had tons of the kids socks and PJ's left.

Bake! I give yummy hand made old fashioned yeast based bread loaves. Sometimes I do braids, but usually just loaf pan loaves. I can get a huge bag of flour at Costco for less than $8 and I always have a big container of yeast on hand. With that and just a couple other items I can make 30 or more loaves!! Nothing beats fresh homemade bread.

Good to read this stuff - I guess we're going to be investing in a new laptop for the spouse to use for work/travel. Its not going to be used for gaming at all - but must be able to do heavy word processing and things like power point. Considering Mac but concerned about compatibility with other programs used at the office. Thankfully this is not needed by Christmas so I may be able to put off the purchase until after Christmas - I've heard that there are often good sales after the holidays. I hope so!

For once the walmart I went to seemed to have a real game plan in place. They were handing out maps at the door. Staff seemed to actually know where items would be. Items were spaced out in a manner you could get to them..... Sure, it was kind of weird to have bikes in the milk 'n cheese area and kids toys in the produce department... but it worked. By having runway lines well blocked off it kept the crowd in a somewhat orderly approach so there wasn't once mass free-for-all of flying elbows to get to the legos (or whatever) They even had line marker people - employees with special vests and carrying a balloon who would announce every now and then that they were the end of the check out line so people would know where to get in line. Every register was manned too! Probably the best WM experience I've ever had for sales day

Looks like we'll be using the artificial tree again this year.... don't want to pay for a tree from a sales lot - and nobody in the family wants to go mucking in the woods to get one ourselves. That's ok though, our fake tree is a pretty nice one.

I love this site - I don't post a lot over the year, but I do surf the deals. Its a great resource! And of course nobody compares for the black Friday info and insights!

No me.. no way.