[It's 1:09 AM....am I missing the online discounts?]

I'm not sure, I'm waiting as well. Hope they go live quickly, I am pretty tired! :)

[What is your BF ritual?]

For me and my wife, the traditions are what we look forward to more than the deals. We always spend Thanksgiving Day at my parents' house. After dinner, in the early evening, we usually make the final plans for where to go, after coordinating with some friends we always go out on BF with. We buy stuff on behalf of my parents and my inlaws, so there are usually many places to go. We spend the night watching a holiday movie of some sort, and then we go to bed, all of us staying overnight at my folks' place. (They live in a much larger town with far more stores.) We wake up around 3 AM, clean up, then meet our friends at a convenience store, where the wife gets coffee and I get a sandwich. We head out, usually to Walmart, since you can wait indoors, and scope it all out. After we leave Walmart, we usually hit Toys R Us, Kmart, Target, etc. At about 9, we meet some other friends at IHOP for breakfast, and go back out again to finish up. We usually go home at 12:00 and collapse. It's all great fun!

[Do you shop for others on BF]

I usually buy things on behalf of my parents and my in-laws. After all, it's for my kids usually, I don't mind picking up stuff for them if I will be out anyway!

[Black Friday Ad Item Lists for Previous Years (2003-2006)]

I'm flabbergasted by how little I remember buying off these lists. For something I enjoy so much, you'd think I'd remember better. I guess it's more the thrill of the hunt!

[Will Black Friday Be Different This Year Then In Years Past???]

I remember seeing little flyers at Walmart advertising BF prices on items just a few days before Thanksgiving. In particular, they had an ad for the Star Wars Lightsaber kit, which was also a BF items somewhere else, I can't remember where just now. Anyway, it was either cheaper at Walmart or close enough in price to not be worth going to yet another place on BF, so we got it at Walmart. It felt like dirty tactics to me, but I guess that's business for you. Did anyone else notice this kind of thing?

[What Ad Do You Think Will Leak First???]

Absolutely Ace Hardware, the last place I'd ever go on Black Friday!

[Where do you shop first on Black Friday?]

We almost always hit Walmart first at 5 am, because we don't have to wait outside in the cold that way. Only exception was when Kaybee toys opened at 4 several years ago.

[How do you feel about shopping for people who are too "lazy" to shop for themselves?]

We really enjoy just the shopping excitement aspect, and so we buy for both sets of parents as well. It's great to shop when it isn't your own money you are spending! The car gets really full! :)

[Those god awful popcorn tins LOL]

I have a Batman popcorn tin I use as my trash can. The kids have a Spiderman one for their room. Also, I keep some old Christmas lights in a Donald Duck tin from my childhood, circa 1982. :)

[eat breakfast before or after you open gifts?]

After. We always eat Christmas breakfast (bacon, biscuits, and chocolate gravy) at my parents house.

My wife is from Michigan, and they are big into chocolate gravy. Me, it makes me ill to think of eating a biscuit covered in what is basically runny chocolate pudding. :/ I always have jam on the days she makes chocolate gravy!

 

Back on topic, we always open the presents first, though we have a cookie (or six) and drinks while we do so.

[What are YOU going to do for breakfast?]

Hello all, first time poster.

 

Our tradition is pretty simple. We hook up with some friends at around 4:00 AM at a convenience store, stocking up on coffee/drinks/breakfast sandwich. We hit two or three popular stores like Walmart and Toysrus, then we head to an IHOP to recover. After that, we hit places like K-mart, Big Lots, EBGames, and others. We usually have a ton of fun and get some good deals too!