I caved, I Black Fridayed!

'Twas the morning after Thanksgiving, and all through the house, not a creature was stirring not even my spouse. OK that's all the rhyming I can do on such little sleep.
I am not a hardcore Black Friday shopper by any means. My sister got up at 3:00 and drove to Lake Jackson where she heard that it is never crowded. My friend started out at Toy's R Us at midnight and continued on to open Walmart at 5:00. I am going to try and get stories from both of them and try and do another post tomorrow. I am sure they are both sleeping soundly right now.
Now I am not going to share all I bought, just in case my intended gift recipients read this blog. I will share how much I saved though!
It took my husband and me all afternoon to search through the ads and formulate my plan of attack. A Blu Ray was top of the list since the game room DVD player got fried. We had said that the time to upgrade to Blu Ray would be when one of the DVD players conked out. That was last week; do you think it was a sign? Anyway, I lucked out because last night my husband found the one he wanted on-line with free shipping for less than the store price! SCORE # 1!
So the alarm goes off about 3:55 and I began to have doubts about going. One snooze hit later and I convinced myself to get up and get going. I had set out my clothes the night before in order to make sure I had a running start. Jeans, Jimmy Buffett T-shirt, Mickey Mouse sweatshirt (I confess both of those items were selected in order to bring back fond memories should I become discouraged at any point) and running shoes. Grabbed a bottle of water and some vanilla wafers for the sugar and off I went.
I'd like to say that that I battled fiere crowds and evil grinches to save money for my family, but as you will see, I actually had a rather good experience.
My first stop was Sports Authority on 646 and I45. I was really hoping to make the first 100 since they were giving out 100 scratch off cards promising anywhere from 10-500 dollars off today only. As I drove south on I45 I caught a quick glimpse at the neverending line of heads outside Best Buy and hoped that I wouldn't be dealing with a line like that! As I circled around I began to breathe again when I saw the line at Sports Authority. Only 35 people or so! As we all enjoyed the camraderie a line of people in the same circumstance will provide (my college sociology prof would be so proud) I began to wonder if I would soon be battling with these people for my one coveted item. After half an hour of waiting, the doors opened and everyone calmly walked in a single file line. I got my card and was happy to see I would get 10 dollars off. I got back to the area in which this oversized item is housed and then I am in a quandry. I so obviously cannot carry the item, there is no ticket to pull so now what? A young adult-possibly teenage worker named Charles noticed my confused expression and offered help. He wasn't sure where to find this item either, but asked for help and was told that the managers had stacked them out front. He had to get a shopping cart to get it for me, and then stayed in line with me until I checked out-which was only a two minute wait. Not only that, but he wheeled it out to my car for me, and when it wouldn't fit, helped me figure out how to fold down the middle row of seats in my SUV. Thanks Charles you rock! I saved $300 at this store! SCORE # 2!
Bouyed by my triumph at Sports Authority I decided to brave Target just across the street. I only needed one item here and it is in the electronic section. This is cutting it close because it is now 5:20. I parked in the last row and hoofed it through the parking lot and straight back to the empty shelf where my sought after item once stood. One deep sigh of disappointment later, and then I noticed a little sign where the price was that said the item was located in the back and just ask for a team member. I frantically looked around for a red shirt, once I found one I was told they were bringing out a cart of one momentarily. Ten or so minutes later, there was still no promised cart of this items. I began to hear other people talking about it as well. Finally one of them shouted, "There she is!" I followed another sprinter and was able to snag the 4th on a stack of six. I was congratulating myself for not having a basket because it would have just slowed me down. Then I heard the employee say that she had another stack in back. Oh well, I am just glad I have the coveted item in my hand. Oh yeah, about that, the item is about four feet tall, two foot wide and maybe 60 pounds. Remember when I was congratulating myself for not having a basket? I began the shuffle to the front of the store to the longest line I have been in in a while. It's all good though because this particular item is so tall that I can rest my head on it while I wait. It was probably a good twenty minute wait here where I saw another act of good cheer. There were these three women who had one shopping cart between them. One of them decided to go for a Starbucks run (there is a Starbucks in this store) and offered to pick up some coffee for several people around her. When she returned with the coffee, she would not take any money for it, just said, "Merry Christmas!" I am not sure but I estimated that I saved about $150 here. SCORE # 3!
I debated on calling it quits or running into JC Penney, and decided to check out the latter. It had been open since 4:00 so maybe the crowds would be thinned out. I had no agenda or must have item here. I picked up a few stocking stuffers, collected my free Christmas ornament, then stumbled upon another impossible to pass up deal. Women's ski jackets originally priced at $180 now on sale for $35!!! I have a ski jacket, but not near as nice as this one. With my next ski trip scheduled in March, this turned out to be a no-brainer. So at this store I saved about $160 when it was all said and done. SCORE # 4!
When I realized that what I actually spent was less than the amount of money I saved, I decided to treat myself to Shipley's in old League City. I ordered some chocolate donuts and kolaches for my husband and kids and plain, hot glazed for myself. When the cashier handed me my bags she said, "I gave you two glazed since they were kind of small." SCORE # 5!
So all in all, I had a great experience. I saw true Christmas spirit today when I expected to see fights and snarls. I saved more than I spent. I got two donuts for the price of one! Good day!