Are you going in for the Black Friday shopping mania?

[bondi688]

Did you get anything? Did you get any bargain?

Overall, I found there are less enticing sale this year. I did not stop at the local mall when I drove by and saw the throng of people there.

 

[Walt34]

Heavens, no. We wouldn't think of going anywhere near a mall today.

 

[MichaelB]

No. Nein. Нет. Não. Ag. Non. Nei.

The same word in 100 other languages. just in case, here

 

[audreyh1]

Somehow I don't think you are going to find INTJs and INTPs rushing out to shop with the crowds on Black Friday.

Clearly some people enjoy the experience - otherwise there wouldn't be such crowds.

ER types are more likely to sit home and peruse the Internet for Black Friday deals. That's what DH has been doing.

 

[W2R]

I have been browsing the Amazon Black Friday deals. Oddly, I do not seem to want any of that stuff at any price.

No, I never go in person to fight the crowds at Black Friday sales.

 

[travelover]

....... Oddly, I do not seem to want any of that stuff at any price...........

+ 1. Being retired, I no longer need to assuage my stress with junk I don't really need, even at a bargain price.

 

[Calico]

Never have, never will. I would rather stick pins in my eyes.

Enjoying a quiet day at home with the cats, my iPad, and some DVDs on tap for later this afternoon. There is not a single thing on earth I need to buy.

 

[gardenfun]

Never have, never will. I would rather stick pins in my eyes.

Enjoying a quiet day at home with the cats, my iPad, and some DVDs on tap for later this afternoon. There is not a single thing on earth I need to buy.

Well said, Calico. My sentiments exactly.

 

[panacea]

I never venture out on Black Friday, but I do find myself surfing for sales. Found a couple bargains that were worth buying on Amazon... also discovered I could get a really good deal on my favorite dress shirts that are normally way too expensive at Jos A Bank. I was fully prepared to find the same old sale but they actually had some unusually good prices.

 

[frayne]

I avoid the malls like a plague between Black Friday and Jan.1.

 

[daylatedollarshort]

The kids bought some deeply discounted clothes on sale at the outlet mall last night. They like to try stuff on so they don't usually get clothes online.

Today I am looking for Black Friday sign on bonuses online. So far I've got Capital One - $200 per family member for both checking and savings accounts, and $150 from Share Builder per family member for a trade account, plus referral bonuses. (There are some debit card and trade minimums, too.)

I think this is a better ROI. Spend nothing and make $1K+ for a few hours total work, including the minimum trades and debit card transactions.

 

[bondi688]

The reason I drove by the mall was I was going to the bank (Chase) to take advantage of its Black Friday special, where you get a bonus for new deposit, but it was nowhere nearly as good as the one that daylatedollarshort got from Capital One.

 

[Animorph]

We were brave this year, since we're visiting DS, and went to a movie for Black Friday. It was a little crowded getting in and out of the parking lot, but not too bad at the theater. No shopping.

 

[daylatedollarshort]

The reason I drove by the mall was I was going to the bank (Chase) to take advantage of its Black Friday special, where you get a bonus for new deposit, but it was nowhere nearly as good as the one that daylatedollarshort got from Capital One.

We did a Chase bonus a month or so ago. $125 just for opening a savings account but that was one per household. The Capital one rep told me we could open one account per person for their offers. I haven't got the Capital One & Sharebuilder ones yet so we'll see if that is true. This is my afternoon project. We have all received signon bonuses like this at other institutions that were one per person so I am hoping the rep was correct.

One of the kids has a focus group this week, too, making $50 an hour to play video games.

It adds up to some nice little extra Christmas money.

 

[gcgang]

My 12 year old daughter and her friends went at 3:30 this morning! I think Black Friday is a marketing gimmick aimed at the young and foolish. It's a fun "happening", to use an old word, for her.

 

[Nodak]

Not a chance in hell.

 

[KM]

OK - I will confess.....I went out this year. I stopped going years ago when it turned into mayhem. That and our Xmas lists have gone down over the years...

We decided to get our DD and SIL an Ipad Air for Xmas this year. We had also decided to get one for ourselves for Xmas. Target -opening at 8pm - was offering $100 GC with the purchase of one. So we got there about the time they opened (I don't stand outside in the cold for anything), walked to the end of this ridiculous line and followed the crowd in (DH "moo"-ing like a cow the whole time....that got a few chuckles). Once inside we had to get into a second line to get anything from electronics. Almost left at that point, but agreed if we went home, I would sit, eat and watch TV....and he would probably go to bed. So instead, I got my exercise in by walking circles around the store for 90 minutes, talked to some old friends I saw....meanwhile DH chatted with everyone in line. We finally got our 2 Ipads at a total cost savings of $230. So 2 hours of our time saved us $230, I got some exercise, saw some old friends, DH met some nice people. Everyone in line was really pretty low-key and pleasant.

Today I ran down to the local Dick's Sporting Goods to get a jacket on sale for my son. There was plenty of parking spaces and the store was not crowded at all. I was kinda surprised.

I probably wont go out for Black Friday for another 8-10 years, but we actually enjoyed the trip last night and today was a non-event.

Disclaimer - I don't like in a big city area. We have < 100,000 people total in the 4 cities in the area. Pretty sure it is different in the more "metro" areas.

 

[Badger]

I already have my wife's present so there is no need to fight the crowds. I wouldn't do it anyway. I won't even watch the news on TV to see the bad behavior of some folks.

My wife and I had our Thanksgiving turkey yesterday. So today I enjoyed spending time with my wife, daughter and her family and had a nice post Thanksgiving Day dinner of Prime Rib at home. I thought my wife should not have to spend all day in the kitchen so I cooked both days as a gift to her.

More fun than fighting crowds.

Cheers!

 

[foxfirev5]

Nope. DW already did the shopping for the kids/Grandkids. We long ago satisfied our needs.

 

[Bestwifeever]

.... We decided to get our DD and SIL an Ipad Air for Xmas this year. We had also decided to get one for ourselves for Xmas. Target -opening at 8pm - was offering $100 GC with the purchase of one. .... We finally got our 2 Ipads at a total cost savings of $230. ...Today I ran down to the local Dick's Sporting Goods...

So funny--I ordered two on line from Apple today, for a total of $150 in bonus gift cards for the two; we live in a much more populous area than your <100,000 and I did not want to go near a store, Then DH went to Dick's Sporting Goods (to exchange a birthday present that needed to be ordered). Although it was quite busy, he asked a floor clerk if he had to stand in the long line for an exchange and the guy took care of it himself right away. Let me know where else you are shopping so I can coordinate our purchases

 

[easysurfer]

Not me. Did the Black Friday thing a few years back and I don't want to be in such a mob again. My plan is to stay at home until Monday when the first weekend of holiday madness is over

 

[Ready]

So funny--I ordered two on line from Apple today, for a total of $150 in bonus gift cards for the two; we live in a much more populous area than your <100,000 and I did not want to go near a store, Then DH went to Dick's Sporting Goods (to exchange a birthday present that needed to be ordered). Although it was quite busy, he asked a floor clerk if he had to stand in the long line for an exchange and the guy took care of it himself right away. Let me know where else you are shopping so I can coordinate our purchases

That was a great deal on iPads at Target. Did you also get a 20% off coupon for a future purchase? If you can use those on Apple and Bose products, that's a fantastic coupon. I kept thinking about buying an iPad but eventually decided my iPad 4 was good enough.

 

[Ready]

I decided to venture to Costco today to return a TV set we bought a few days earlier and replace it with a slightly better one. I dreaded the thought of waiting in the return line on Black Friday, and then having to navigate through the store and wait in the checkout line to buy the new set. But ultimately we decided we wanted to get it over with so we ventured out.

To my surprise, we got a parking space right by the front entrance. There was absolutely NOBODY waiting in the return line, and it took less than five minutes to check out with the new set. I kept thinking something must be wrong here, but it was a completely uneventful experience!

 

[Birdie Num Nums]

I did the Black Friday thing for the first time a few years ago, a couple of times. Did it mostly not to find cheap prices for anything but to have that very early morning experience--to see what it was like. I went from place to place, was among some crowds here and there, and occasionally stopped for something to eat or drink--all the while people-watching. It was enjoyable. But it's not something that I want to do every Black Friday.

 

[GalaxyBoy]

Went and got a tree at a little country store near me, as soon as they opened. They always have the best trees, which are very fresh.

There was hardly anyone there and I mentioned that to the cashier who said everyone was at the mall and they should get a crowd in the afternoon.

Tree in stand and up by 11:00; spent the PM decorating. Had to cut it short to cook something for my cousin's annual day-after-Thanksgiving potluck. We just got back and had a grand time. His side of the family plays bluegrass so there's always a jam session.

Go to the mall? Seriously??