But I think that one should have a kind of list other wise you could have end up with things you didn’t really need.

This year we’ve moved to France, which has no BF (although the Xmas crap has been in the stores for quite some time). Because I wanted to spend as little as possible on shipping, I shopped early–purchasing “gourmet” treats from the grocery store for all my American relatives–and shipped last week. Win-win.

(The website will soon have a downloadable map, also available in all participating shops, to help one make a strategic path of all the 90+ local Portland shops to hit on BF).

All the best!
betsy

I mean, my husband occasionally worked 24 hours–he rested ahead of time–but it is hard to properly rest when it is weird like that. Irregular schedules mean that he can’t really sleep for the 8 hours prior to going in as he probably won’t be tired enough to sleep. I’d think that a few hours of rest in the evening before hand would be enough. I’d expect adrenaline to kick in when the sales start in the AM. I suppose I’m a slave driver.

I just think if you want to celebrate the holiday with your family, you can still do it–even if you have to go to work that night. You just learn to be flexible. You can also just learn to look at things positively. Or you can quit your job if you hate it badly enough.

But, I think the store could do better at scheduling people. Having people work for 24 hours is crazy–whether it is a doctor or a retail person. No one works well after a certain number of hours on the job. It is hard to believe that they actually have “everyone” on the job. (maybe they do, but it is hard to believe–they could hire extra people for the season.)

All that to say that I do think things have gotten crazy in the states on Black Friday. People have to decide if they think that shopping is “fun” or “not fun”. If it is fun, then all the madhouse is what they enjoy doing. However, it seems more and more like a madhouse to me. Saving $30 is not worth losing several hours of sleep, IMO. Most of us can save that much by just “not doing something” that we normally do–like eating out. Either fast or fix an omelet for make pancakes for dinner. For a family of four, that will be a significant savings.

Mostly, though, I shop ahead of time when there are sales at places like the local toy store, etc.

I also tend to get a lot of food items like smoked salmon at Costco. Which is local for us.

So, in alot of instances, if door buster items are not on your list, then you can get a great deal at online retailers.

First you need to register your card, Then use the following site to find local participating retailers:

http://www.facebook.com/SmallBusinessSaturday

I usually check out newegg and Amazon as they have useful-to-me things like USB thumb drive/sdhc card/hard drive. This year, I am looking for a new hard drive. My mother wants a new All in One printer but we’re putting the emphasis on cost effective ink, not just upfront printer price.

Otherwise, I am usually Thankful for a day of Rest and Relaxation. Why not make a donation this year (if you want to help the economy) and be Thankful for what you have. Make some plans for next years travels? There were a few good hotel sales over the last 2/3 days for upcoming travel.

There is no true “need” for for Walmart to open on Thanksgiving day, so I can understand the frustration to have to miss family holidays for corporate greed.

It’s possible to “reschedule” holidays, but large family gatherings usually don’t change dates or times for one person, so you will always miss out on something. Having reheated turkey the next day just isn’t the same.

I may be biased though, since I hate Black Friday in general. To me its just people trampling others (to death?) to buy stuff they don’t need. Fortunately, the hospital requires me to work the day after Thanksgiving, so I have a perpetual excuse for avoiding the stores.

Jobs like nursing, doctors, caregivers, etc. don’t stop just for Thanksgiving.

I think we make a holiday–we can choose to celebrate Thanksgiving at a different time, or in a couple hours on a Saturday.

That’s what we do. We live in a country where it’s not a holiday and our kids always have a 3 hour choir practice (that they can’t skip lest they risk the fury of the director), so we celebrate (eat) earlier in the day and the kids go on to their choir practice.

While I am “working” I usually have a list in my wallet of who I have bought gifts for throughout the year. That way, if a good deal catches my eye and I think “Aunt Jo would love this!” I can see that I already bought her something awesome a month ago and move on. I realize that not everyone spends as much time in retail stores as I do (spending other people’s money while trying to hold onto your own is an…interesting dynamic), if you know what you have and what you “need”, you are able to take advantage of deals as they come up instead of risking a trampling when you could be spending time with your family.

However, this year I plan to look for good deals on the internet. Browsing the internet during black friday is much better alternative compared to physically going out early in the morning and deal with rude crowd.

Personally, being associated with anything that inspires people to promote “doorbusters” is kind of just not me. I don’t like crowds, and there’s nothing on earth that I need badly enough to cope with a shopping mob.

My tip is don’t kill yourself trying to get there at 2am, or 4am…really, the lines are doing to drop down, and most of that stuff will still be there at 6am. Stores get a lot more of those hot items in now than they did a few years ago, so that people don’t feel so discouraged about not having gotten whatever they wanted.

Example: 7 years ago, I managed to get the last all in one HP printer off of a tiny, tiny display, last black friday, I thought for sure, since we wern’t there til 7:30 they’d be gone, but nope…they still had close to 50 of the $39 all in one HP printers.