rldelo

No overnight waiting for us...... We try to be in the shopping area by 6 am, which mean getting up at 4:30-5am. Depending on how hard that 4:30 wake up is, we might start out a little later .

This could have been my post......purse on a string, comfy shoes in Ohio...... Also, I make sure to take all the ads and my printed list of plan A, B, C, etc. with me. I leave the pile in the car, but the list stays with me. I have to stay on task!!!

Favorite moment: Lucking out into a great camera deal at Staples. It was unexpected, since we weren't at the front of the line. Lesson Learned: I'm a hothead, and I have to keep myself in check. If you know you are like that, too, you have to constantly remind myself that we are doing this for fun. You win a few, you lose a few, but it's all for fun. Have a more "do unto others" mentality than a "everyone for themselves" mentality, and you will get lost in the fun, too. Oh, and take something nice to give your cashiers--a candy cane, a little stocking, etc.--they're always happy when I hand them something.

Oh gosh, I can justify just about any collection...... --Santas that are dressed in white --Inexpensive village pieces (love D56, but it's just too much $$. I have to draw the line somewhere!) --Midwest of Cannon Falls S'Mores ornaments --Penguins (I was penguin when penguin wasn't cool :)) --My latest "collection" is stuff for our crazy tree--a white tree w/ lime green, bright pink, orange, etc. type stuff.

krissy904 - I don't know you, but your post makes me wish I did

Those triple bucks are just for the quarterly earnings, not for the regular ECBs. You earn 2% on all your spending; with the triple bucks you get 6%. Their messages about these things are misleading, I think. They should call the quarterl earnings something different than ECBs.

We just had a printer delivered via FedEx. But an SD card came in a smaller, bubble-wrap mailer via USPS. So I guess they use multiple carriers.

I got the $10 off $40 coupon from another post here on the forums. Just do a search for Staples, and you'll find it. Not sure about tech stuff--there is some fine print, so it's probably best to check it out to make sure the item you have in mind will work. Also, the $10 coupon came up as already being used--it required a manager override. Not sure why, but I had a very accommodating cashier who just called a manager, who seemed very busy and just typed his code in with no question. But someone else might have a different experience. For the 12% coupon, I couldn't see it either. I just googled "staples customer appreciation," and found the link that way.

I bought a 10.00 pack of socks for a stocking present. I think the cashier was supposed to charge me tax, but she didn't even do that, so they were totally free.

I looked at this one when buying a tv there yesterday. Please note that it's just a monitor. And I am by no means an expert--I don't see a lot of difference in the pictures on the different resolutions on new LCD tvs. They all look great to me. But this one definitely seemed to have a darker, more grainy picture. Again, I'm no expert--just passing on what I saw in my hour and a half of waiting for a salesperson .

Thanks for the information. I printed off the appreciation coupon, as well as a $10 off $40 purchase coupon (found in another post). The cashier let me use both, which I didn't expect. I went to get the $70 MailMate (their super-shredder); After a $20 easy rebate and my coupons, I got it for just over $30! Thanks again!

Thanks so much for this link. I was going to buy a TV this weekend anyway--the 12% will cover the sales tax plus a few more dollars off. Very happy to see this coupon!

It starts out at $50. You put it in your cart and choose to use Google Checkout for payment. If you aren't signed up for a google checkout account, it walks you through the set-up of that account. Once you choose gco, it will then reflect a $20 discount, taking it down to $30. That's what you get charged--$30. Then there are 2 rebates, one for $21 and one for $8.99. Hope that helps.

I see the additional rebate form, but it says you have to purchase it between December 15-25. Those of us that purchased at the 8.99 price did so before the 15th, so it doesn't look like we can use the additional rebate form. If I'm wrong, someone please let me know. I would love to stick another 9.00 back in my pocket!

Darn it. We bought one as a gift on the 9th when it was 8.99 ar and gco. Oh well!

I was in our HL on Monday, and the place is cleaned out. There were only 3 display trees left--none in boxes or anything. All of the alpine trees were long gone, I couldn't believe it. The ornaments have been consolidated to one aisle, and they had them one/hook, just to fill up the space. If you're looking for something, I'd get moving--because if your store looks like our local location, there's not much left to be had!

Our local Sam's has the 46". We've been looking at the 42" there, and it's $1197.

If my memory is right, the walgreens special prices started at 7am for the past 3 years here at our store in Ohio. It is a 24-hour store, so the way it worked was this: Walk in at any time before 7am, load up the cart with what you want, and then wait in line for 7am to hit. You could go through the line earlier than 7am, but you won't get the price. So we all sort of form our own line off to the side. The computer system somehow uploaded the correct prices around that 7am mark, so it took just a few minutes for the right prices to ring up. My experience has been that not a lot of "extra" is stocked for some of the things I get....like the .99 nuts, the lipstick, etc. So if you don't go in and pick it up before 7am, it won't be there even when the sale starts at 7am (or whatever time it is in your location). Just my experience-- Rebecca

huseboy.....the cd/tape player shouldn't have anything to do with it. You just need to "install" the antenna and put the receiver in the car. It tunes to a fm radio frequency that you choose. For the op that is looking into sirius......we have it in both vehichles and love it. We have the Sportster and the Starmate. We both agree that we like the Sportster display better.

I also suggest looking at the JCP ad. I purchased a nice wool coat there last year, and I believe I remember the deals at BF/early December time were better than the after-cmas clearance sales.

Thanksgiving night--go over ads and finalize a mapped out route for the day. Also, we put up a christmas village, and we have our lighting ceremony that night. Store order depends on what items are most important, etc. Stop at McD drive through (and complain about how slow the line is and how it's sucking up good shopping time--it has to be THE SLOWEST McD in the world). Then continue with shopping in the next town. Come home, nap, then start decorations.

I become less and less interested in white christmases each year.....it's a romantic idea I'd be happy to just see in the movies :)

I have a couple of xmas cds that I keep in the car for holiday time.

Haven't seen anything like that! The lots are full, but I guess I've been lucky.

We get a map at the entrance, which helps a lot. I didn't read all replies, so someone may have already said this....but here's how we maneuvered thru the store..... Most stores are set up the same, I think--the pallets in the main aisleways. You can do a pretty good job of maneuvering from section to section by weaving through the clothes racks in the middle of the store. It works better to do it w/out a cart, but not impossible! Between the 2 of us, we were able to hit all the pallets we wanted, and bypassed a lot of the congestion at the pallet itself.