I had my first black Friday experience 6 years ago when we were visiting family in Missouri. Sean's aunt, my brother-in-law, and I woke up early, drove out to Wal-mart, watched many people freeze outside the store, watched the doors opened and cut the line....ok....I don't think the cutting in line was my idea...but it was really fun shopping. We got some good bargains and we had a really good time helping each other out and checking off our lists together. I have always wanted to go back out on a black Friday, but there has always been something preventing me like having a baby or traveling and not having child care. This year we were home and we actually had a few things on our "would be nice to have" lists that Wal-mart had advertised. So I had a plan...go to our small town Wal-mart store...that no one typically goes to and get a little shopping done. Sean and I have visited this Wal-mart a few different years on black Friday and the store is always dead and their door busters are all just sitting there. Boy was I in for a shock this year...and so were the employees. I got there about 15 minutes prior to the 10pm deals....there was no where to park except for on the grass and there were no shopping carts left. I walked in and thought to myself...what am I doing here? Where did all these people come from? Why are there so MANY KIDS RUNNING AROUND? Isn't it past their bedtime? Apparently some kids stay up until 1 am shopping with their families. Anyways, I hung out at the cash registers for a few minutes and snagged a cart from an older lady. She didn't speak English and probably was thinking why this crazy lady "me" was helping her load her goods onto the check out counter. (There were other people doing the same thing...so I had to act fast).
Some things on my list were a new crockpot....my lid on my spare one conveniently broke earlier in the day. They had them advertised for under $10!! The kids always like getting new jammies...who can beat $4.47. I needed to get a few gifts for some gift exchanges and birthdays coming up....Easton is going to be thrilled when March rolls around to see what deal I snagged up. We also wanted to get new dual DVD players for our car...ours broke this summer and they had a really good deal $40 below any other deals out there. The not so thrilling part of the evening was that my deals that I had marked in the ad where on sale 2 hours apart. I was thinking that this would be the longest two hours of my life...in Wal-mart out of all places. I would probably end up sick in the end just being in there crammed with so many people and kids running around...I got a little grocery shopping done...maneuvered around all of the lines for people waiting for their golden ticket for some great TV deals...found some really cozy slippers for each of the kids for a few bucks...found a nice little fleece for me for $4.00...picked up a few other gift for the kids and nieces/nephews. Then I decided to stroll over where the dual DVD players where going to be unveiled. I had 30 minutes before those would be on sale. I had a bit more grocery shopping to get done (can you believe no one was grocery shopping...the aisles were empty...crazy people), but instead I decided to plant myself in the little swarm waiting for the crates to be opened. People literally had their hands on items waiting to grab them and go. There were maybe 30 or DVD players available. I was for sure going to get one since there were only 8 of us waiting for them. I visited with some people around me...watched a few kids attempt to pilfer through my cart...and then the moment of chaos began...ok...wasn't super chaotic because in the end there were quiet a few DVD players left...and pretty much every other crate had items still on them. (except for the larger TV's). I picked up an extra dual DVD player-- duh we have 4 kids...so in the end I got 4 DVD players for $30 each! Pretty proud of myself. Then I snagged a GPS for the car...having a few second thoughts about that one...so we will see if I keep it. I just thought it would be handy for going on vacations...but my husband reminded me we have GPS's on our iPads and iPhones...ooops. I finished up my grocery shopping, waited in line for 10 minutes to check out and was home and in bed by 1am. Feeling pretty excited about my good deals I snagged up.
Other things I noticed about black Thursday/Friday:
---Even though stores such as Toy's-R-Us advertise their items don't go on sale until 9pm...according to what time zone? Well apparently 6:30pm our time zone is someones 9pm...I got some great deals for my nieces and nephews for over 50% off and FREE shipping! Went back online this morning and my awesome deals...sold out!!!
---As stated earlier that some people are really crazy for bringing their kids out with them....I still can't believe it.
---Apparently more people are willing to stay up late, than to wake-up early for good deals.
---Garbage cans make good shopping carts...I did not try it, but saw several people who did.
---Wish I had some brave friends that would come out with me to go shopping. It is really a lot of fun....despite the crowds.
What good deals did you snag up?
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