If you are going shopping on black friday do you have a strategy?

[HIU8]

I need to go shopping for several things (gifts and household needs) and DH is willing to watch the kids tomorrow and let me go out to do this on my own. However, I know what black friday is like around here and I know I will be far longer than I can anticipate. I need to go to the mall and to Target and a couple of other specialty stores. I'm not planning on getting up super early to do this. Am I nuts?

[bubbaray]

I love to shop, but you could.not.pay.me.enough to go shopping on BF.

GL, though!

[JBaxter]

Im leaving in an hour.. TRU midnight sale... Then off ot walmart then parts unknow with my sale flyers and 2 15yr old boys who are coming along

[carolinamama]

Seriously? I am sending DH to TRU for a list of things I circled in the flyer. I need my sleep more than he does (he's learned that I am much more pleasant to be around if I get it) so he willingly agreed. We may hit Target and REI in the am since we have things we want there too but not as crucial that we get as far as savings.

[gatorsmom]

Am I nuts?

Yes you are. :tongue5: But I'm not good in crowds. I lose my train of thought and get distracted easily so maybe I'm not the best person to chime in. I have a girlfriend who gets energized by the shopping crowds and loves shopping on BF. We agree to respectfully think the other is crazy.

[happy2bamom]

I price match whatever I can at Walmart. Much easier than running to several stores. Plus people don't tend to buy the items not in Walmart's sale paper so I usually find everything that they carry.

[KrisM]

I don't usually go super early, but maybe 6 or 7 am. Other than crowded parking lots and a lot of people in the stores, I don't think it's bad. If you're not there with the people in line to get in, the check out lines are usually down a couple hours after they open.

[s7714]

The past couple years that I've gone out, my strategy has been to only buy the things that are on sale at that time. For instance, while I may need 5 or 6 toys from TRU, if only 2 are BF deals, that's all I buy right then. All the other gifts, wrapping paper, etc. can wait for another day when it's not such a mad house.

This year I haven't come across any deals on things we really want or need, so I'm opting to stay home and do a little cyber shopping instead. Actually last year I stood in line for over 30 minutes at the Disney Store only to get home and see that every single thing I purchased was drastically cheaper on their website! I might venture out in the afternoon if I'm in the mood. DH wants to go buy new Christmas lights tomorrow, but I don't think he realizes how busy even the hardware stores will be.

[lchang25000]

Just got back from BRU. Got everything I wanted (12 packs FP diapers, 8 packs of EB baby food) and glad my experience was fast, smooth, and painless!!! :cheerleader1: Thankfully I didn't need to go anywhere else. Good luck!

[Corie]

We are back! My 8 yrs. old daughter and I do Black Friday every year.
We've been going since she was 4 yrs. old.

We don't really go for anything specific but we always hit JC Penney for the
free Disney snow globe.

We left the house at 4am and we were home by 7am.

We always have a great time!!! :)

[lizzywednesday]

I never go out without a plan or being one of the 1st people on line. I go in, get whatever I showed up to get and get out within an hour, even with the checkout lines.

I don't often do well with crowds, but I find that having a plan and traveling light (i.e. - coat with inside pockets, cell phone and wallet) helps take the pressure off and I focus on my goals.

Also, I make friends waiting in line. It's funny having conversations with total strangers at 3am!

[hellokitty]

We are back! My 8 yrs. old daughter and I do Black Friday every year.
We've been going since she was 4 yrs. old.

We don't really go for anything specific but we always hit JC Penney for the
free Disney snow globe.

We left the house at 4am and we were home by 7am.

We always have a great time!!! :)

That's so nice that you and your dd have made it into a tradition! See, I'd love to do it if I had someone to go with. A few yrs ago a friend of mine came over for Thanksgiving and we did BF for the first time. It was nuts, but fun. Maybe when my kids are older, I'll ask them if they want to go with me. Our main problem is childcare and also we are always the ones who host Thanksgiving and frankly it takes us like two days to recover from all of the work involved, I don't have the energy needed to go BF shopping.

[alien_host]

I went through the 5000 flyers last night and put yellow stickies on the front with a list. I went to Target first (arrived 4:30 and was at least 100 people back) and got everything I was trying to buy (and then some).

I made a list of what order I was planning on hitting everything (I hit 9 stores) and made a note if I had coupons or gift cards, b/c otherwise I'd forget to use them!

I was home by 11:15. 6 hours of shopping later and a full trunk!

Target was a breeze, they were the most polite group of "crazy" shoppers ever, very orderly in line, people didn't push, it was amazing. It only took me 15 minutes to check out and the cashier was super nice.

I will never go to Walmart again, people littered the parking lot with coffee cups and it was a mad house. I waited in line for what seemed like forever, it wasn't worth it. Then I saw they had most of the things I was going for online with 97 cent shipping, I should have done that before I left the house and saved myself a headache!

I still love the thrill of the hunt on BF though! ;)