mom8w

Harbor Freight, October 2.

I watch Gotta Deal for sales that go live early in the week...loved Kohl's last year! I also try to ascertain a sale going live and get the page loaded, refreshing multiple times, and cross my fingers! That was what I did for the boys' laptop last year. It didn't go live at the advertised time, took 10 to 20 minutes. They were hoping to buy a cheap laptop, and we managed to get it. I've found that I can't get my heart (or theirs) too set on anything because glitches and timing can spoil plans.

We have a Kindle Fire, which the kids enjoy for games as well as movies. They also enjoy their DS versions. My boys love being able to video record activities, tweak voices, and goof off. They save up for games, so they don't have a bunch of them. Either could be a good fit, but I think new content for the DS systems is more costly. In either case, the kiddos are tough on their equipment. Protective gear and protection plans make good sense. The boys bought their 3DS together, and the protection plan expired right before the device died.

I get frustrated when the sales go live just a few products at a time online. It can definitely mess up plans for free shipping and delayed interest if some of your planned purchases aren't showing at sale prices while others are selling out. Of course, that was a few years ago on a Toys R Us sale, and I haven't shopped them much for BF since.

Would love to see a decent gift card deal with iPods, but not hopeful.

Looking forward to Walmart, CVS, Kmart, Best Buy, and Toys R Us ads.

I don't have many options in our rural town, so most of my BF activity is online. Start getting my cart for a given store ready in advance of the expected start time for the sale and hope that the items will be online. It's unpredictable at best! However, I love the fact that many of the sales go live before Friday, and actually can handle some of the purchases I want prior to Thanksgiving. This actually worked out in a Brick-and-Mortar a couple of years ago as well...Home Depot was mostly busy with employees setting up for BF on the night before Thanksgiving when we picked up our tree. We scored some lights that were in the BF ad, and they rang up at BF pricing.

This is fun!

Half Price Books 10/15

Does anyone know if layaway can be used with online BF purchases at Kmart?

October 8, Half-Price Books

I love the pillow pet my daughter got last year...soft and cute. There are dinosaur versions, as well as a dog, panda, frog...several that would work for boys. Also, you can find licensed pillow pets for sports teams or characters.

Very surprised at the lack of handheld game consoles, other than the PSP...was hoping/expecting to see a DS deal.

One thing to watch with WalMart PJs is size...I picked them up a couple of years ago, and the sizing was off, at least for my kiddos...they were much too tight, and I had to pass down the pairs for my boys. They were also very thin.

Harbor Freight, 10/14

In early December, Amazon tends to have some fantastic discounting on toys, much more so than bf. I don't know if you can find some of the threads from previous years (hot deals online category), but some examples: Eyeclops mini projector (2009, paid about $ 30), Girl Gourmet Cake Decorating Set (2009, paid about $20, it later dropped to $15), Dora and Diego trikes (2007, paid $10 each, normally about $25). Might be worth hanging on to the Amazon gc's.

I'm with you on that...I like my small town full of snowbirds! WalMart usually has the less hot items all weekend, no fighting crowds!

I'm leaning that way, too, as the VTech doesn't have the camera built in, you need to spend another $40 or so, for a KidiZoom Camera, whereas the LeapPad has the camera (with video) built in...saw it at Walmart, and it's a little more streamlined in appearance than some of the previous electronic learning systems, too.

Vegas has plenty of shopping places, lots of Walmarts, Targets, etc...the 215 makes it a little easier to get around. I haven't braved the crowds there since the late 90's, when I waited in killer lines at a Toys R Us, and found nothing that I wanted...I'd rather deal with online options! Depending on your DD's area of town, you can plan around what you want to do. Definitely use a mapping tool online to get a feel for where things are.

I was going to mention, as well, that I just saw a price drop this week on Nintendo 3DS (to about $169)...seems like the other handhelds by Nintendo might get some price adjustments before the holidays, or show up in the BF ads as doorbusters. I first stumbled across Gotta Deal when the Game Boy micro's were 39.xx as doorbusters, in 2006, as the DS was coming out. The bigger gameboy consoles were also doorbusters in that time frame, I think.

LeapPad Explorer and VTech InnoTab look like they will be great for the pre-school and early elementary age group...a lot cheaper than an iPad! I love the bizu toys mentioned above in this thread...I think my tween daughter will really like them, as well as my 6 year old!

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/61HP2U8OeWL._SL500_AA300_.jpg List Price: $19.99 Price: $13.99 & eligible for free shipping with Amazon Prime You Save: $6.00 (30%) LINK

Mixed results here...two years ago, I ordered a couple of things from ToysRUs online, no trouble...last year, not everything went live at once...I was trying to combine everything in order to qualify for free shipping, but by the time everything was updated to BF prices on the site, some of the toys I wanted were sold out. What I ordered came, no problem, but I was disappointed in the way things went overall. I haven't had any trouble with walmart purchases online, and the items I wanted were available...nothing cancelled. No big ticket items, of course. Hope this helps a little.

Tried adding small amounts from both bankcard and from PayPal (I didn't know paypal was an option for payment at Best Buy!), and these happened quite quickly. I don't know if the first time was slower due to the giftcard balances I added, or due to the fact that I had just activated the Pitch In card. Will see later in the week.

It's not a huge difference. For me, it's easier to manage one card verses several different gift cards if I'm making a bigger purchase...I'm not an organized individual, so giftcards in my purse are not a great idea! :) Also, I can add smaller amounts, whereas the giftcards available at my grocery store are only in increments of $25. We don't live immediately near a Best Buy, more than an hour to the nearest one, so most of my dealings are online. It took a couple of weeks for my card to arrive. It took a couple of days for the first funds to credit to the Pitch In Card, but I was adding from several gift cards. I will have to see if it takes as long from a credit/debit card. I'm just checking it out as a strategy for my household, since I don't save well for holidays, and since gift cards have proved to be a little more successful toward that end.