yummy mummy

with the stores being so busy that day, do the credit card/debit machines ever go down??? i'm travelling to the US for bf and every other yr we used to day trip it because we were very close to the border, we moved this yr, so now we have to travel down and stay in a hotel so we don't want to bring such large amounts of cash....i just don't want to be caught off gaurd and have no $$ or access to none while shopping!!

i dunno, maybe it's the area i was in (detroit suburbs) or the stores but the only time i have ever had to deal with a HUGE line up (to pay, that is...to get in was a whole other story lol) was target. at meijer & walmart we were in and out 2 yrs in a row, it was unbelievable!

hmmmm does the economy & weather really make the lines shorter?? does it make the deals easier to snag too?? if so i just may change my travel plans....i've always heard the shopping in PA is good and i'm from Canada so i can handle your weather just fine

WOOOHOOO!!! i have no life anyways so therefore nothing to do on a saturday nite anyways lol! count me in!!!

ohhh i didn't even know this existed!!! anyone know if anywhere in NY does this????

looks like buffalo, NY for us!

we plan months in advance because we travel down from Canada so we plan the travel aspect, hotel etc....the plan of attack in terms of stores etc happen when the ads come out

i have my 2 boys to buy for, 2 neices, 2 nephews, a god daughter, a few friends children and 3 of those kids have birthdays in december....plus i have my dh, siblings, inlaws, mom, you name it....so far i have: NOTHING! this is my worst year for starting ever. i sort of have an excuse though, we're moving tomorrow, so i didn't want to have to move *stuff* with us and have it get lost or damaged in the shuffle, but once we are moved, i have to start!!!

so the battle for our $$$ has begun.... http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/081002/neth046.html?.v=68

ya, not impressed here either...the train set would be nice but seriously, $6 off? the can definately do better than that!!

just an fyi!!! a friend of mine works as a guard at the border and they are pulling EVERYONE in to pay duty/taxes now! i have been going over sometimes weekly for ages now and the ONE and only time i ever got pulled in to pay was black friday last year...but with all the canadians heading south to shop, they are really cracking down! so just make sure not to spend all your money and save some to pay the taxman!

thanks so much for the info, can't wait! dh and i will have to bring our kids with us (we're coming from Canada) so i was hoping it would be less crazy! even though there won't be any doorbusters or anything, thats fine with me since stuff down there is always SO much cheaper than ours anyways! even if i can get sale prices, i'll be happy!

great job!

is it still crazy? are most of the sale items already gone/sold out??? is it worth it to venture out?

so with all of the ads being out now, what do you think? as much as i LOVE bf i am toying with the idea of not going i only live 5 mins from the border so i can pretty much go when i want but i'm thinking the "deals" and crowds aren't worth my time or effort. anyone else feeling disapointed right now?!

ditto pretty much everything that has been said. i'll still be out, but what a disapointment....

am i the only one not impressed by their "deals"?

thanks for the info! i'm SO looking forward to it!

i will be there for SURE! well on the saturday at least :) we live in Windsor, Ont. about 5 mins away from the tunnel to Detroit. we go over almost weekly for everything, gas, groceries you name it. until we stop getting ripped off by prices here (which i don't forsee changing much) i will keep giving the good ole' USA my money!

are there still decent sales on say the day AFTER bf? i'm in Canada and can't make it down this year till the day after but am hoping i can still catch some good deals. is EVERYTHING just for that one day only?

the lines in the stores werent bad, i was shopping at my first store by 3 am....everyone that tried to get back into Canada whether they took the bridge or the tunnel (we have both about 5 mins from eachother here in Windsor) got stopped. i thought it was bad at the bridge (which i took) but i heard it was waaaay worse at the tunnel. it was a zoo, there wasn't even any parking spaces left in the entire lot. i had to wait about an hour to see a customs officer to declare what i had and then i had to wait ANOTHER hour in another line to go and pay my whopping $14 i owed! my friend i went with bought about $600 of stuff and paid $44 so she did pretty well too. you didn't have to pay any duty at all?! you're very lucky! because of what i bought i only paid about $4 in duty, the other $10 was taxes. the deals were still good though and i came back with money and didnt touch my credit card. overall a very good day!

i was in the US for about 10 hrs and they got me at the border, they pulled EVERYONE in! i only spent $200 US and a fair amount of that was clothes so i only spent $14in duty it was waiting in the customs office for WELL over an hr that bothered me, not the money!

same here, i really dont NEED anything but i figure i'll go anyway:D

LOL no i'm STILL bringing a credit card, just going to try and limit it to cash! i know since i will be out with the girls and NOT my hubby, i won't have anyone to stop me from jacking up my mastrcard! i should really look into getting a US account for myself, since we moved to Windsor this yr we go over the border ALL the time. is your US account through a US bank or a CAN one??

thanks for the responses and great info!*hopefully* since the detroit/windsor border is always packed they won't enforce the $50 rule as strictly as other places:tongue1: how much do you usually budget to take with you? i know it may not be terribly safe but i am taking cash, i simply can NOT be trusted to limit myself with my credit card on a day like that! is $300 US a decent amount? i'm not in the market for electronics or anything, just good deals on *stuff*. who else is getting excited?! 6 more days!!!