Black Friday

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I've discussed before how much I love getting a good deal.  I'm definitely thrifty and I'm always on the look out for the best prices I can find on things that we need.  So it may come as a bit of a surprise to you that I'm NOT a Black Friday shopper.  I have my reasons.

I feel like Black Friday is all about impulse buys, which are not a good idea if you're trying to get the best deal.  Yes, there are loss leader items that are highly advertised to entice people to the store, but unless you're going to bust out your pepper spray or set up camp on Wednesday night to await the store opening on Friday you're unlikely to get one of the big ticket items.  You're more likely to be pushed into an impulse purchase after standing in lines for hours because if you waited that long are you really going to head home empty-handed?  Unlikely.  Are there good deals to be had?  Sure.  But it takes a lot of planning and research to make sure you're getting the best deal on something and you still have to wade through all the crazies and be out shopping at 3am.  No thank you. 

I'm likely to get just as good a deal on the items I'm looking for at a later date as long as I keep my eyes peeled for sales and remain patient.

With that said, even though I never plan on shopping Black Friday, I always seem to manage to end up making purchases.  This is because I do look through the ads to see if there is anything I want/need that are a part of the sales and if there is THEN I make my move.  I don't just go out for the heck of it, assuming I'm going to get the best deal (not that this is what ALL Black Friday shoppers do, but I think it's what oftentimes happens).

2 years ago we got our vacuum (which was one of the best investments ever!) for a great price.  At the same time, we also got a deal on our bedding set.

This year I took advantage of some online shopping and got double cash back with Ebates, which as an aside, I highly, HIGHLY recommend signing up with Ebates.  They pay you a percentage of your total if you click through to the retailer you're already planning to shop at through their site.  On Black Friday, I got as much as 10% cash back at some stores.  I saw they were offering even than that from other retailers.  It's really a win-win situation since you would be shopping anyway.  I would expect they will have sweet deals for Cyber Monday tomorrow as well.  Doooo it!




I hit up Target Saturday afternoon after all the crowds had already lost interest and picked up a 550-thread count sheet set for $35.  That's a great price!  We have been in the market for a new sheet set for... well, probably months now.  We had two sets that we rotated that were purchased about 3 1/2 years ago when we got our new mattress set after our wedding.  I would expect sheets to last longer than that, even with heavy use, but despite purchasing them at the same time AND paying quite a bit for them (around $65 with coupon at Bed Bath & Beyond for 500-thread count!) one of the sets has become really worn, ball-y, and the elastic is totally shot.  Annoying!  I was totally not looking forward to buying the same set again.  So yay for new sheets at a great price!

I also picked up a set of Mega Blocks ($10, regularly $19.99, I haven't even seen a better price on Craigslist), Elmo Slippers ($5, regularly $9.99), and a heavy fleece jacket ($11.98 on clearance, sale price $15, regularly $16.99) for Mr. Jack. 

I got everything I was interested in from the Black Friday sales without having to wake up in the wee hours of the morning to fight crowds and crazy people AND I didn't even have to leave my house on Friday :)

I am looking forward to seeing the deals offered tomorrow for Cyber Monday.  I'm definitely an online shopper!

Did you score any great deals this weekend?