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GottaDEAL 2020 Black Friday Prize Club Posting Thread

Brad

By Brad
in 2020

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len_mullen

len_mullen

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Locally, Kohls and Walmart displaced Bradlees and Ames.  I was pretty excited to have a Walmart in town, but didn't even know what a Kohls was.  I had been hoping for a Sears or K-Mart.  One day I was shopping at Market Basket when I was overcome by an urge to find a public restroom.  That was my first time inside Kohls.  It was beautiful from the impulse buy area to the bathrooms.  The staff was older and better dressed than I was accustomed to.  I was pretty impressed with the selection of goods.  Definitely a cut above Ames, Bradlees, or Walmart.  While they did not have the weekly sales Ames and Bradlees had or the everyday low prices of Walmart, using their credit card routinely snagged me a discount on my order.

 

Co-located with my favorite grocer and adjacent to a liquor store, Kohls was always convenient.  As I spent more time in the store (including one BF), I noticed they adjusted their stock by season.  This VERY SMART management meant deals on the stuff I wanted when I wanted it and an opportunity to stock up on consumables at the end of each 'season'.  Because Kohls offers 30% off every month, I shop there for things that always cost the same wherever you shop (like my Rug Doctor carpet cleaner).  For most things, 30% off puts the price a little below Amazon and Walmart.  Kohls Cash seals the deal.  (Plus I do not know what Kohls' politics is and I LOVE that.)

 

The last store I ever want to go into is K-Mart.  How the mighty have fallen!  I have never met a more disengaged workforce.  From manager to cashier, not one single employee I have met had an interest in serving me.  When I bought my last snow blower from Sears, they dribbled a few hundred dollars of store credit to me each week for a few months.  I used most of it to buy steeply discounted jeans.  I'd order online for store pickup.  Sometimes they would have my order, sometimes they would present me with a random counter of items, and sometimes they would stare blankly at the order information on my phone.  I have a friend who tells a story of his last visit to K-Mart.  According to my friend, he had to navigate around a large puddle of what appeared to be urine entering the store.  By the time he finished his shopping, the puddle had been tracked throughout the cash register area as carriage tracks and footprints.  That's gross.  I also have gone to K-Mart on one BF.  After waiting inline for more than an hour, I followed the line into the store only to find a warzone and no BF items.  A CSR told me that because Massachusetts would not let their stores open on Thursday, Mass and NH stores offered their Doorbusters Wednesday and that there would be no rainchecks.

 

Best Buy can be on my way home from work.  I recycle a LOT of consumer electronics there and have never been held to the three item per day limit.  If a deal comes up, I order online for store pickup and load the trunk with recyclables.  My first HD TV was from Best Buy and I have purchased computers from them.  Movies too.  My relationship with Staples will end in November.  I suspect BB will become my Computer Place once that happens.

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bluebear

bluebear

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I *got* to go to my office yesterday for the first time in 13 weeks. My husband had to go set up a new phone, and he wanted me to help put the screen protector on. (We work together) We planned to be there 30 minutes, but ended up being (a very fast) 2 hours! No one was there when we arrived, but 4 people were in the building when we left. Our office is in a trailer behind the building, so we didn't see or talk to anyone else. I was able to get something done that I would have not wanted to have to mess with on the first day back, so that's nice to have that out of the way.

It was a very productive 2 hours. So I should be good for another several weeks now! I suspect that we have about 5 more weeks before we start transitioning back. Nice to know that we can go for short times now if needed though.

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laddhorn

laddhorn

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We are in the middle of transitioning back into the office.  50% and we swap weeks.  Next week will be my work at the office.  The following week I will be at home, unless they decide we need to go 100% by then. 

 

Within a week or so of working exclusively from home, I realized that the cheapo $50 office chair wasn't cutting it.  Unfortunately, it was too late to order a good chair at a reasonable price, so I commandeered my son's gaming chair, which he purchased last Black Friday.  As he typically works in the evenings and stays up pretty much all night gaming, we have been sharing his chair.  I get it during the day, and when he gets home from work he takes it back to his room. 

Recently, I found the chair I wanted actually available for $140.  I sprung for it and it arrives in about 2 weeks.  I'm sure I could get it for around $100 last year, but if we have another round of quarantine, I'm going to regret waiting for a "good" sale.

 

I've been wondering recently how the quarantine and shift to work from home is going to affect Black Friday sales.

 

Will we see deals on webcams and other stuff no one cared about until we were all quarantined at home?  Will prices still be inflated on those items and the "sale" price will be what they went for before the world ended?

How many people will scale back their Black Friday shopping due to unemployment during this time?  Will Black Friday be scaled back to accommodate some of the losses businesses took while they were closed down?

 

How do you think the recent events will affect YOUR Black Friday?

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bluebear

bluebear

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How many people will scale back their Black Friday shopping due to unemployment during this time? Will Black Friday be scaled back to accommodate some of the losses businesses took while they were closed down?

 

How do you think the recent events will affect YOUR Black Friday?

Those are interesting thoughts. A couple more thoughts to throw into the mix.

Some people have been home for 3 months now. And had to occupy their time somehow. I suspect a lot of shopping was done out of boredom, so some people may have completed a lot of holiday shopping already.

And a lot of people have been making things, that could become gifts. I have already made 6 blankets, with supplies already on hand to make 6 more (see above about more time to shop).

So there may not be as much a need for shopping for gifts either.

 

We'll see how it turns out. Will be interesting.

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HomeinKS

HomeinKS

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She's lucky she's able to return them. In at least one of the stores around us the dressing rooms are closed and they're not currently taking returns. Makes buying clothes risky and difficult so I haven't bought any from there.

I have noticed that some places are extending the return dates.  When I asked about returning the replacement pair we bought at Ross they said to return within 30 days.  They said they put items aside for a few days before returning to the floor for purchase.  Thankfully the replacement shorts fit.

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bluebear

bluebear

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Finally got to see my grandson today, it's been 4 months since he was last up. And my daughter, haven't seen her since Christmas. It was a nice afternoon, but I'm exhausted by the 5 hour round trip drive to get him.

This was only the second time I've driven since lockdown started, and that trip was only 2 miles down the road and back. Combine that with the fact that I'm terrified of driving on the interstate, and that made for a super fun trip, especially with my mom and a 5 year old!

Edited by bluebear
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colemandawn4905

colemandawn4905

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We’re heading to myrtle next week. First family vacation in forever. I’m so

Excited. I’ve never been to the beach. I went to Daytona a few years ago for work but no one wanted to actually go to the beach n relax. Now I hear about all the gangs and stuff. They said it isn’t good to be on the boardwalk after 6 or 7. We will be in north myrtle but I don’t want to run into any craziness. I’m not worried about covid. I don’t wear a mask but do sanitize my hands after touching stuff and wash them as soon as possible.

Finally did a large return at Kohl’s. So glad I don’t have to look at that stuff anymore

I love Kohl’s. I do a lot of online shopping through them when the deals are good.

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Gator Pam

Gator Pam

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It's a good thing I appreciate my roommate's humor.

 

So, I had my initial consultation with a new endocrinologist at EvergreenHealth today. Of course, I was screened for Covid-19 symptoms as I entered the building from the parking garage and given a sticker I never looked at designating I've been screened to put on the left side of my chest. I still had the sticker on when I came home.

 

George took one look at the sticker and started chuckling.

"What?" I asked.

"I'm just thinking about two years ago," he replied.

"What about two years ago?"

 

In response, he reached over, pulled off the sticker, and showed the woman who had a double mastectomy in June of 2018 the sticker she was wearing on her left reconstructed breast which read...

 

"Flatten the Curve"

 

*snort*

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len_mullen

len_mullen

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My son's school has notified us that the fall semester will be remote.  I suspect this has as much to do with the risk of protest/violence as COVID19.  Obviously, we are disappointed, but the finance office sent me an estimate for the cost of the semester and it's damn near free.  They have dramatically reduced the costs for the semester and not [yet?] reduced scholarships and grants.  This coming on the heels of a two week staycation during which I got my hair cut, I would have to say June is shaping up to be a pretty good month for me.  

 

I am 682 days from pension eligibility, 927 days from [likely] retirement, and 18 days from my next two week vacation.  If I get laid off in the next 927 days, I will get to collect unemployment plus the stimulus, receive a severance payoff of 35 weeks pay, then start collecting my pension come 5/1/2022.  July has THREE paydays.  This afternoon, I will purchase gasoline for the first time this month.  When I fill my F150 in two weeks, I'll get a $1.00 discount, so I will pay about $1 per gallon.  Heating oil is $1.57 per gallon.  I am hoping for one more price drop before I fill up .  Last time prices were this low was March of 2016 ($1.599).  Next week eggs are $0.99 at Market Basket and Sam Adams is $9.99 for a twelve pack at Shaws.

 

While I am starting to feel some stress and frustration at the consequences of COVID19, I would say, overall, 2020 is going well for me and mine.  I take some credit for that.  I do not watch news on television, severely restrict my access to social media (twitter, Facebook, linked-in all gone; WordPress blogs all deleted).  Lots of walks.  A little wine.  Might as well join me at the half full glass because I think next year will be a mess regardless of who is elected, (I have already convinced myself that things will be fine (for me) regardless of the outcome.)

 

Find one thing to do today to make the day worthwhile.  Worry about tomorrow tomorrow.

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HanShotFirst

HanShotFirst

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Happy LEON Day.  I think when my regular morning show goes off, I'll listen to some Christmas music.   :holiday16  :holiday16

I should do this too.  I’m having a horrible time with my attitude these days.  Lol.  I went outside in the blazing heat earlier this morning to weed the flower beds hoping that would help but I almost died (Not really but that’s how I felt in the moment) so I came in before I got done.  !  :)

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