Black Friday Recap

I love Black Friday. I love getting stuff cheap. I love having saved up money to be able to go on a shopping spree. It is one of my most favorite days of the year!

I got up Thursday morning while my husband was voluntarily working (triple pay...yay!) and headed to the Tedeschis convenience store near my apartment to pick up a coffee and the newspaper.  This is my new tradition as of last year. I love the fresh newspaper with the humongous amount of ads! I actually saw something online that said the Portsmouth Herald had the largest selection of Black Friday ads, so the Herald it was! Of course, I didn't even open the regular paper part, going straight for the most important part, the ads!

I had previewed most of the stores I was interested in through either the store site or an iPad app called Black Friday from FatWallet. Nothing compared to actually going through each circular in it's paper form, being able to slowly peruse each item and it's price. The digital world just can't replace it. It's just not the same online.

This year I had a fairly limited budget as my work hours have been cut so drastically and I need to keep something in savings just in case. I had to really plan my shopping and keep a list.

I went through each flyer looking at the deals and writing down the ones I was interested in and the Out of Pocket cost. I focused on the pharmacies (Rite Aid, Walgreens, and CVS) as they had a lot of household and candy deals that paired very nicely with coupons and their rewards back programs. I planned on two transactions per store, one that gave me the rewards certificates and the next that used those rewards certificates. This plan worked perfectly at CVS and Walgreens, but unfortunately I was unaware that Rite Aid did not give instant rewards on your receipt. Luckily, they were a small portion of my overall plan.

I was able to get two of my larger purchases online so I didn't even have to deal with the stores! One was an amazing deal on a present my husband has been wanting badly, and the other one was a $15 Craftsman Multimeter at Sears, which was something I have been wanting as my Geo Metro Convertible has been cranky with some electrical things.

I also went through the lists for Target, Walmart, and a couple other stores. There were several DVDs I wanted both for myself and as a gift. I wanted to go to Kohl's as I had a $10 off $10 purchase coupon and an additional 15% off everything. I also love crafts, so Michaels and JoAnns were two more stops I had toward the end of my trip as I didn't actually need anything, but would like to find a couple things as they had nice % off entire transaction including sale items.

Household Stuff

I packed myself a tote bag with the ads of the stores I planned on going to, a list of the items and their prices/coupons/rewards totals paper clipped with the necessary coupons, and a paperclip of the other coupons for the various stores. As I struggle with low blood sugar I packed a lunchbox with snacks and drinks to keep me going throughout the day.

I have to say all the planning I did Thursday paid off big time Friday!! I saved 56% on my entire purchase overall. Best part is I didn't leave my house until 6:30AM Friday!

Obviously all my deals can't be shown as quite a few were gifts, and he reads this blog!

I got some great deals on Laundry detergent as the pharmacies had buy 1 get 2 free that I combined with coupons. I got Buy 1 get 1 free batteries (Duracell and Energizer) also combined with coupons and rewards. It was great being able to stock up on name brand products at less than the generic prices! I was very happy that the pharmacies had plenty of stock, as I was worried they would have sold out on Thanksgiving.

Fun stuff for me

My all time favorite deal, and the one I had to work the hardest for was the Cat's Meow toy and the GoGo Pillow. Walgreens had an awesome promotion where it was Buy 1 get 1 free on select As Seen on TV products, the other pharmacies had a similar deal, but not on products I actually wanted. My husband and I decided the cats were getting the Cats Meow toy as their present this year, so regardless of sales, we were going to purchase it. When I saw it was included in the Walgreens sale, I knew I had to try and get one. I almost caved and went out on Thanksgiving to buy one, but didn't. Unfortunately, when I got to my local Walgreens, they were sold out. The associate was very nice and checked in the back and even called the other store semi-nearby. As it turns out, they other store had a truck come in that morning that hadn't been unloaded yet, so I was asked to call later to see if they had them in stock. I did, and was able to go up to the other store and get the toy and got a GoGo Pillow for free (which I totally love!!! It's perfect to support my iPad!).

My luckiest find was the off brand loom bands....the peachy color is usually only sold at one store, which is not in my area and regularly cost $3 or more; they were only $0.99!  I need this color as I plan on making the nativity scene. I purchased extras to list online and they sold within a day! Awesome!

Of all my lists and stores, there was only one thing I did not find....a DVD copy of the Vow for around $4. Oh well. I would say this Black Friday was a resounding success, and I didn't even have to wake up stupid early or shop on Thanksgiving to do it! :-D

I can't wait for next year!