Sunday, November 29, 2009

Black Friday Helped Keep Me in the Black

My sister from New York comes out to see me every Thanksgiving.

First there was Thanksgiving itself. I have it down to an art. First, I have mastered the long-suffering sigh. Then, I say, wearily, "OK, OK, I'll stuff and bake the turkey. But if I do all that work, the rest of the family has to bring the rest of the food and clean up."

What a great scam given how easy roasting a turkey is! And at 23 cents a pound for a nearly 25 pound turkey, it didn't even cost all that much.

Then, another of our longstanding family traditions is to get up really early (4:00 a.m. this year) and hit the Black Friday sales. My sister does all of her family shopping for my family that day. I get the stuff I don't think will be as cheap again before Christmas.

I failed to get one of the $200 laptops at Wal-Mart. Apparently we had to be there by 2:00 a.m. when they handed out tickets.

But a local department store had every sock and bath towel in the place at 50% off, and I definitely scored some bargains.

Plus, two of my kids want WII's this year and I got them for $174 a piece.

Old Navy was a bonanza for kid's clothes and t-shirts--everything I wanted was $5 each.

I know I'm supposed to despair of the rampant consumerism that is unleashed on Black Friday, but I was too busy out there buying.

My Christmas budget, which is usually $2000 for tree, decor, and gifts for 12 kids and grandkids, plus assorted spouses/boyfriends, is $1600 this year.

I'm determined to stay within the budget, and Black Friday helped me meet that goal.

3 comments:

Sharon said...

Wow. Good for you! I wouldn't go near the stores on Friday, for sure! $1600 sounds reasonable considering your large gift list!

Dawn said...

Good for you - sounds like you got some great bargains. I can't deal with those crowds, but I admire your pluck for getting out there!

Revanche said...

Now that's making the most of Black Friday. I'm not fond of it anymore because my shopping lists have shrunken so much that there's little return for my time, but if I had your list, I'd do the same!