Black Friday

[robertaw]

Anyone score any awesome deals today?

Or even any Black Friday shopping stories (good or bad)?

I didn't go out myself but one of my daughters managed to get both the items on list - a digital camera and iPod Touch - both Christmas gifts for my sons.

I sure would like to have one of those Zhu Zhu pets for myself! They are CUTE!

[Todah Tear]

Lowes had Dremmels for $27 off.

Todah

[Gage]

Black Friday means spending money and I don't like to spend money so I stayed home and moved trailers around. Have a sale pending on my boat and I had to pull my Dalton out for next weekend. Boy did I save a lot of money.

[CliffinGA]

My wife Sheri and I were up early but not to early in it and got some really good deals! Mostly used gift cards from our wedding 4 weeks ago and made off with around $1000 worth of merchandise for around $400. Even bought a bunch of cast iron gear for cooking when camping! All in all a great day and not too crazy here.

Cliff

[Gaelen]

I love Black Friday. If shopping were an Olympic sport, I'd have a case full of medals.

Six years ago when I got sick, I learned the joys of Black Friday online. I'm doing okay right now and wasn't planning on needing them this year, but around midday Thanksgiving I started having flu-like symptoms and...well...no running around in crowds for me! I'm only just starting to feel better. I've recently gotten an H1N1 shot; hoping my GI symptoms are just side-effects and not the real flu.

Yesterday, I scored two deals online. Deal #1, for my sister who is traveling and couldn't shop, was the widescreen TomTom GPS at Walmart.com (the TomTom Silver Edition XLS widescreen, $89.) Truth be told, she really wanted me to get the $59 model, but they were sold out online and I was not in any shape to battle the crowds at my local brick-and-mortar Walmart. Deal #2, all for me, was one of those mini camcorders designed for quick videos - $29 at QVC. Mine because I don't have enough toys and it was my birthday present from me to me.

My only disappointment this year was that I missed the party at the Bass Pro Shops in Auburn. BPS has a bonfire (firepits) in the parking lot on Thanksgiving night and invite people to camp there, and the party goes on 'til the wee hours. No shopping after 9pm, just campfires, marshmallow roasts, pie-iron cooking, games for the kids and the campout - and free merchandise and gift card giveaways. If it were really cold here, I'd have said 'no way,' but we're having a pretty temperate fall. I wanted to go for at least part of the time after Thanksgiving dinner, and maybe even take the Sunspot over to camp, but I was way too sick on Thursday night. I stayed in bed.

Last year I had a great Black Friday shopping experience at that BPS - the store was busy but not so crowded you couldn't think; the staff was helpful; the free coffee was flowing. I kept an eye out for their ad this year. Last year (and this year) they have good deals on things everyone in my family really needs - $10 fleece jackets, $10 jeans, and of course, cool stuff for the fisherfolk and campers in the crew. Last year I scored 15 presents for assorted neices, nephews, brothers-in-law, brothers, even a fleece for my mom - and I picked up a few things for me, too. By the time I left BPS last year, my Christmas shopping was just 1 person short of done.

I'm feeling better today and heading out, since several of their sale prices were good for the whole weekend. And I'm planning to stop in at Staples, where the sale prices were also all-weekend-long. Shop smart and shop often.

[ssrjim]

I got something for camping. A new easy up after the wind destroyed my last one. 39 bucks at pepboys, it is suppose to be a good price all weekend if you are in need of one.

[Creamcracker]

Got myself a great new computer with 3 GB a wide screen monitor all for $398! can't beat it!
Philip

[Gaelen]

Bass Pro Shops update: man, I love this store. It's worth every second of the 25-mile drive.
They still had $10 fleece jackets - and I did think about a couple, but decided even I can't give the nephews the same gift two years in a row. I can't write EVerything off to chemo brain forever - can I?

Anyway, the also had plenty of inventory in the women's turtlenecks and printed henley tee shirts I wanted - and their Redhead waterproof suede 'mocs' (kind of like the Lands End waterproof mocs) were on sale for - $19.97. I am always looking for comfortable dog-showing shoes that can work indoors or outdoors, and be dressier than sneaks, so I bought two pairs (black suede, dark brown suede.) Then I scored a great brother/BIL/nephew gift - two-packs of locking blade Buck-style wood handled pocket knives, $7.95 for the two-pack. Knives can be split into two gifts ($4/gift is my kinda price - I picked up 3 packages.)

The best part? I strolled through their christmas ornament section, since I'm a sucker for ornaments. They had miniatures of vintage camping equipment as ornaments - a canteen, complete with the striped wool sides; an old Scotch-style round metal cooler, a red hurricane oil lamp, an old-style ice chest with the aluminum handles, a little old Coleman stove. Also the happy assortment of bears in canoes and black labs hugging Christmas trees and...LIGHTS! Besides their traditional shotgun casings, they had pine cones, red hurricane lamps and THE LITTLE AIRSTREAM TRAILERS! I'm sure the lights are cheaper elsewhere (I think the BPS price was $17) but if, like me, you've never seen these three light sets in actual use, it was worth the trip, just to see a tree decked out in hurricane lanterns, mini airstream trailers, and replicas of vintage camping equipment.

So glad I decided to head out there today. It's always a good use of my time!

[robertaw]

The best part? I strolled through their christmas ornament section, since I'm a sucker for ornaments. They had miniatures of vintage camping equipment as ornaments - a canteen, complete with the striped wool sides; an old Scotch-style round metal cooler, a red hurricane oil lamp, an old-style ice chest with the aluminum handles, a little old Coleman stove. Also the happy assortment of bears in canoes and black labs hugging Christmas trees and...LIGHTS! Besides their traditional shotgun casings, they had pine cones, red hurricane lamps and THE LITTLE AIRSTREAM TRAILERS! I'm sure the lights are cheaper elsewhere (I think the BPS price was $17) but if, like me, you've never seen these three light sets in actual use, it was worth the trip, just to see a tree decked out in hurricane lanterns, mini airstream trailers, and replicas of vintage camping equipment.

I LOVE Bass Pro Shops! Unfortunately we don't have one near us anymore since we moved down south.

I also have a weakness for Christmas ornaments and camping equipment. Put the two together and I just can't resist..lol. I am going to check out their website for some of these goodies! Thanks for the heads up!

[Cliffmeister2000]

I have yet to walk into a store this shopping season. Except Costco, to buy some stew meat and mushrooms for my upcoming camping trip. That was scarey enough!