Contest: Win Black Friday T-Shirts [Winners Posted]

[Brad]

Time for the next contest!

Two of the words on this year's t-shirt are Deals and Tradition.

 

To be entered to win, reply to this thread with either your favorite deal you've ever scored on Black Friday or your favorite Black Friday tradition. Or you can reply with both. Or multiples of both. Just keep it all in one post to make choosing winners easier.

Contest will be open until 11pm ET on Sunday, October 24th. I will then randomly choose 15 members who entered and you'll win a brand new 2021 Black Friday t-shirt!

Limit of one t-shirt prize per member but if you win you are still welcome to enter future contests for fun.

For more info on this year's shirts and to order them if you wish, see this thread.

Good luck to everyone!

[len_mullen]

This is TOO easy...

 

Walmart's $148 55" TCL 4K Roku TV Deal...

 

 

 

I'm going to toss in a tradition as well.

 

For many years, when our kids were young and our energy unlimited, my wife and I spent our Thanksgiving weekends on the road.  Thursday, we would break bread with her family.  Friday morning I would head out shopping while she packed.  When I returned, we would unload my car, hop into hers, and head to Santa's Village for the kickoff of Christmastime at Santa's Village.  We stayed at Cabot Inn and Suites which had an indoor pool, a hot tub, and a restaurant.  First day, we would check, take the kids for a swim, have dinner, and head to Santa's Village.  Checking in the first night got you a return pass for Saturday.  More important, you got to enter the park through a side door -- no lines, no waiting.  The inn was close enough that you could leave the park for dinner (and/or a nap).  Next day, breakfast, one last dip in the pool, then home.

 

Those were my best Black Fridays!

[starbeck96]

I think one of the best BF deals that I got was a 99.00 Gamecube when my boys were 4 or 5.  A friend and I had to stand in line to get into Walmart and then stand in line another 2 or 3 hours to get the Gamecube.  Neither of us had a babysitter (she had a son who was 4 or 5 and a son who was 2) so we put the oldest three in a buggy together and the youngest was in the seat of the other buggy.  Then we put the two Gamecubes in the empty buggy part and covered it with our jackets.  They were none the wiser..lol.


My favorite tradition is just the fun of shopping with a friend.  That was the only year I didn't have a babysitter.  My husband started working for himself that very next year and always took off BF so I could have one day of shopping fun with my friend.  The friends have changed a few times over the year, but we always have fun.  Now that my two sons are grown and my daughter is 15, the must haves have kind of dwindled down, but I still just enjoy the tradition of going out all day shopping.  We usually eat breakfast at a fast food place and then eat lunch at a sit down restaurant.  I did take my daughter a few years ago after she begged and begged to go.  But, she decided very quickly that she didn't like that.

[MariahA]

The year my sister scored a Hatchimal was pretty epic, she has us guarding it in the cart

[Doresia]

Me and my sister always do bf shopping together.  We have gained some and lost some shoppers over the years but the two of us are constants.  For the last few years it has been her DIL, my DIL and my daughter.  We check the ads, make a plan and go out with whoever wants to go with us and have a blast.  After coming home and unloading all of our purchases (sometimes multiple times), we always gather up the rest of the family and invade Denny's (there are a lot of us) for breakfast.  I'm not much of a shopper normally, but always look forward to BF shopping with the family.  

[dantegirl]

For me, its a tie.... Back when Circuit City was still alive and CDs were the storage of choice (showing my age, haha), I scored re-writable CDs super cheap... This was my first foray into black Friday. My other item is my Christmas tree from home depot about 8 years ago. The boys were excited to see what black Friday was all about and went with to get our tree. It was fun to share that excitement with them and we still have/use this tree. Its a memory we relive every year

[MsKate]

Several years ago, we scored some rather inexpensive towels at Target.  I don't remember the price, but my wife and I each bought the limit.  We ended up donating these to a homeless shelter.  Since then, we try to find washcloths or towels for purchase on BF so that we can donate them.  Pay it forward!

[jewleyp]

Best score was the Nintendo DS. I was a single mom who really counted on Black Friday deals- back 15 yrs ago. My longtime friend and I went to Walmart and waited in line outside. Back then there wasn’t a map out out for the store and the stores weren’t open 24 hrs so you had to run around like a chicken with your head cut off. Stopping strangers to ask “where did you find that”. Them being nice and pointing to the right area. Well, I missed them. All gone. Ughh ok let’s shop for other stuff. After a while we pushed our carts over to clothing section to regroup out of the way and low and behold there was a DS on top of one of the rounders. Omg. I couldn’t believe it! Such a score and I gave a great big thank you to whomever decided to ditch it. [emoji322][emoji323][emoji320][emoji7]

[jesusluvu]

This is TOO easy...

 

Walmart's $148 55" TCL 4K Roku TV Deal...

 

 

 

I'm going to toss in a tradition as well.

 

For many years, when our kids were young and our energy unlimited, my wife and I spent our Thanksgiving weekends on the road.  Thursday, we would break bread with her family.  Friday morning I would head out shopping while she packed.  When I returned, we would unload my car, hop into hers, and head to Santa's Village for the kickoff of Christmastime at Santa's Village.  We stayed at Cabot Inn and Suites which had an indoor pool, a hot tub, and a restaurant.  First day, we would check, take the kids for a swim, have dinner, and head to Santa's Village.  Checking in the first night got you a return pass for Saturday.  More important, you got to enter the park through a side door -- no lines, no waiting.  The inn was close enough that you could leave the park for dinner (and/or a nap).  Next day, breakfast, one last dip in the pool, then home.

 

Those were my best Black Fridays!

Yes, this is what I was going to post. I was able to snag two of these last year. Best deal in a long time. 

 

Tradition: As a family we always put up the family tree together either BF night or the next day. As my children are getting older I wonder if we can keep it going but I hope so. It is that day that really marks the holidays for me. All of the decorating and Christmas music. Laughter and arguing. And me once everyone has gone to bed rearranging the ornaments to make it look intentional. Why am I starting to cry. I have to end this one. Talk to yall later 

[chester5]

This goes back some years...

 

My favorite deals were from shopping online on the day before Thanksgiving - when I learned from Gottadeal that most of the sale items were available online already.  My family was astounded and I was one happy mom when I scored tons of toy deals at ToysRUs.com back in the day.

[amdskip]

This was a while ago but I used to always go to Staples. I would have someone with to guard my cart and I would run and grab. No specific deal stands out but I only go out now if there is something specific I am after. Most of my black Friday shopping is done online now. I try stocking up on anything that I will use in the next year.

[cllehto]

Several years ago, my daughter would go with me to stand in the long lines to try to get the hot deals she and her sisters wanted for Christmas. Two of them wanted laptops that year. We were towards the back of the line with little chance of getting the deal. As everyone in line were discussing the items they were after, another shopper handed us an ad for another store that opened later. We liked the computers at that store so we drove to that store and were one of the first people in line. We got two computers at a great price that day and the girls had a great surprise on Christmas.

Another time we were in line to get a laptop to replace one that wore out. The wii had just come out. Someone asked if we were there to get a wii. People around us thought we were crazy as we discussed if we wanted one or not. We decided we did and got it on a doorbuster deal.sometimes you just luck into a deal. We were lucky that day.

As the children have grown up and moved away, I miss the times of long lines spent waiting with my daughters followed by breakfast in their choice of restaurant. Then Christmas tree hunting and decorating in the afternoon.

[kellis4321]

Years ago, Mom & I would go stand in line outside at Walmart and wait for the doors to open.  She would always guard the buggy while I went and ran around to get everything.  Then we would head to the mall and shop.  We would shop until around 11am and then head to the Mexican restaurant for lunch and then run by Toys R Us and see what they had left over from all the rush.  Good Times!

[Illinoismom]

Tradition, When all my kids lived at home, and Black  Friday was black Friday, We would set the alarms and get up at 2:00 Am and be in Walmart by 3:00Am. We had a game plan and everyone had their assigned tasks of items to gather off their lists. We never missed anything we wanted. we were in and out and at breakfast by 8;00. Now the kids are all grown and going to the stores on black Friday just isn't as fun.

 

Second tradition is entering the many contests to win a Gotta deal tee shirt and doing the SS  every year 

 

Believe it or not the best year was the year I scored three Furby's 

Edited October 18, 2021 by Illinoismom

[daftande]

I feel like my favorite deal was at Best buy ~$300 windows laptop (I think it was a Toshiba) around 2006 or so. I REALLY needed it and it was a crazy low price for that year.

Camped out overnight in line and got a voucher barely, it was a cold & crazy year but so worth it!

[hillbillyswife]

Tradition - After Thanksgiving dinner my sister, my 7 daughters and I plus my granddaughter is getting to the age where she can look too, we take the stack of ads and start passing them around the table. We make list , talk about who is getting what at what stores. It’s so much fun and the laughs we share while doing it and while shopping Black Friday together are priceless

[budgetsRsexy]

I’ve never been after any major big ticket BF door busters. I’ve still gotten some great deals but none for anything particularly exciting.

 

My favorite memory was the fist time I convinced my dad to go out BF shopping with me at the last minute. He had no idea what to expect, no idea what he was shopping for and no idea of the game plan. He just tagged along because he couldn’t sleep and “didn’t have anything better to do”. We left at 4:30am and executed my plan of attack. We were a dynamic duo and had a blast sleep deprived and all. He was so proud of all the deals he managed to grab under my direction on my mom’s behalf and at great prices. That was the start of our BF tradition and a memory I will never forget. Though things have changed over the last 2 decades that have required us to adapt, BF will always be father daughter time.

[Hartcollectibles]

My favorite tradition for Black Friday was going shopping with my best friend. We would go every year and then I moved across the country. Well…we couldn’t forget our tradition so every year now she comes to visit me for thanksgiving and we still get to go shopping. I so look forward to seeing her every year!!  

[tehlilone]

My favorite tradition for Black Friday was having my dad go out at like 4 or 5 AM on Thanksgiving morning and buying newspapers from one of the newspaper guys standing on the center divider at the stoplight. My mom would put the turkey in the oven and we'd help peel potatoes and other things. While everything was cooking and cooling, we'd go through the ads and figure out which opening freebies were the best.

 

My mom would drop my sister and me in front of JCPenney to line up for the snow globe and go to McDonald's. We'd have a hot breakfast while waiting for the store to open. My mom would walk to Robinson's May if they had something since they usually opened around the same time then rejoin us at JCP. After we all got the snow globe, we'd get back in the car (no shopping yet). My mom would drop my sister at Mervyn's and go with me to Toys 'R US. My sister would get the giveaway from Mervyn's (sometimes an item and usually a giftcard). Then she'd met us at TRU a few stores down and after we put things in the car we'd walk next door to big lots for their opening and freebie. They liked giving away cheap headphones and am/fm radios. We might pass by Mervyn's again to see if they had giftcards left. After that, we'd go back to the mall and get the gift card from Sears. Then we'd head back to JCP, maybe get a second snow globe, and actually shop the deals.

 

KB Toys was usually a stop later in the day unless they had something we really wanted. Same with Macy's. Mervyn's and Sears shopping was usually when the giftcard started.

 

This was back in the late 90s/ early 2000s when the BF line was maybe 10-20 people deep at opening.

Edited October 19, 2021 by tehlilone

[Kanyon71]

I really miss that Best Buy used to be our first store every year. Now they are to the point where sometimes we don’t even go. We would be in line there super early. Then after BB we would head to other places until about 7am at which point we would head to Cracker Barrel for breakfast. Then back to shopping until about noon. Then home to unload, maybe a quick nap and then the later stores and possibly another Walmart to see what’s left.

[jtitus2014]

My mom would always watch my kids while my husband and I went Black Friday shopping. Our tradition would be to go to Starbucks and get a frappe from them. We don't do Starbucks unless its on Black Friday (Thanksgiving at that time). The kids was so little at that point that we were mainly shopping for toys. Our first stop was Toys R Us because they done their BF an hour or so before Walmart. After that we would go to the Walmart near Toys R Us and get what was needed from there. After Walmart we would make a quick stop in Target for things that I might have wanted from there. Our last shopping stop was the Walmart way across town to pick through items that had been left over. They would always put the major items in the back towards electronics and let people know that they had things left over that was big ticket items. After Walmart we went and ate at Waffle House for a late night pick me up before heading home and dropping everything off. It was like a date night for my husband and me lol.

Edited October 19, 2021 by jtitus2014

[rockpzazz]

My two favorite deals I've gotten were years apart.  My latest was a couple years ago getting the laptop I'm still currently using.  My old one messed up and I needed a new one and was hoping for a good deal.  I was able to snag one from Best Buy and I'm so glad I did. 

 

My other favorite deal was around 2004.  I bought a VHS/DVD recorder at Walmart.  It was my first big purchase after having my job and it felt exciting to get a big item and feel the rush of beating other shoppers to get it.  It was the first or second year I went shopping on Black Friday and was lucky to snag one after working an overnight shift.  I enjoyed it so much it became an annual tradition that I got every Black Friday off.  I told my boss that I would gladly work both Christmas and Thanksgiving just to have Black Friday and New Years Eve/Day off.  Working in fast food New Years Day was always the worst, and we never had family gathers on the actual holidays, so it was a win win.

 

Since then not too many traditions have stuck around as I no longer have a steady income and family members have passed on.  It was a bit fun last year to spend Black Friday decorating for Christmas for the first time in years (besides minimal decorations previous years, with no family around, it just didn't feel like I needed to decorate).  I found all our decorations we still had (after surviving a move and tossing some), and decided I would decorate the small apartment the best I could.  My mom was quite excited to see we still had so many decorations, and going forward, I hope to continue it as a new tradition.  I plan to start decorating right after another yearly tradition on Black Friday- watching the B/W 1947 version of Miracle on 34th Street.

[tjredsox4]

My favorite traditions are looking at the ads on Gottadeal.com and then shopping on Black Friday with my friends and family.

[berry1014]

Favorite traditions ... Early on Thanksgiving day we would give the ads to the kids along with markers and have them mark what they they wanted. After Thanksgiving dinner I along with DH, SIL and MIL would sit around the dinning room table and go through the ads one final time and finalizing the shopping lists taking into count the items the kids marked off. Sleeping for a few hours and then getting up between 2 and 3 am, going to get coffee and then wait in line at Walmart to kick off a day of BF shopping. How I miss those days especially now that my MIL is no longer with us. 

[jesusluvu]

Tradition, When all my kids lived at home, and Black  Friday was black Friday, We would set the alarms and get up at 2:00 Am and be in Walmart by 3:00Am. We had a game plan and everyone had their assigned tasks of items to gather off their lists. We never missed anything we wanted. we were in and out and at breakfast by 8;00. Now the kids are all grown and going to the stores on black Friday just isn't as fun.

 

Second tradition is entering the many contests to win a Gotta deal tee shirt and doing the SS  every year 

 

Believe it or not the best year was the year I scored three Furby's 

Yes....In bed by 11 to get up at 2am and inline at walmart by 2:30 (Walmart was close to my house back then). Waiting for the doors to open and the sound of saranwrap tearing.... good ole days

[okannie]

Favorite holiday tradition was viewing all the ads after Thanksgiving dinner, circling the things in each ad and making a list. After the children became teenagers the tradition of leaving the house around 2 a.m. to get coffee and go stand in line for the thing we just had to get and when all the shopping was done for the morning going to IHOP for breakfast. The best item I remembered getting was when the new one of the Nintendos ( not sure which model) came out, I was able to get it with 2 games and 2 controllers for $100. My son was extremely happy.

 

Ahh, the good ole days

[packratfamily]

Actually, my favorite score goes back many years to a long ago Walmart where I splurged on a West Bend bread machine. I thought if I was going to spend $50 on an appliance, I had better make it worthwhile. So I did. I used that bread machine until it wore out. Bought another one at Goodwill, used that one till it wore out. And I am continuing the tradition. We love homemade bread. People we share with seem to appreciate homemade bread too. (Easy gift, and no dusting required!)

[stina629]

I don’t think this is the best deal I’ve ever gotten, but the very first BF purchase I made was at our local outlets - a beautiful blue, shiny, light pea coat with a belt and epaulets. That was 10+ years ago and I still wear it!

 

Honestly I think my fave tradition is pouring over the ads with my sisters-in-law on Thanksgiving after eating, and making our plan of attack! We didn’t even travel there last year because of covid and how young my baby was but we are going this year and I’m hopeful!!!

[bodotdot]

I scored a 10-gallon shop vac for just $20 from Lowe's a few years ago. It ended up being the last wait-in-line Black Friday before stores put everything on sale the week/month before/after. Great deal, though!

[momlori]

My favorite tradition was getting up super early and dropping my kids with a friends Fausto watch and that friend and I shopping and then breakfast. My best deal was a 27” TV deal buster at Walmart that someone left in the wrong aisle