<p>Black Friday is just a few days away. Are you going to support the economy and look for bargains? Yeah or not? And if you are going to head out to the mall while your family still enjoys their sweet dreams under the spell of turkey triptophan, what are you hoping to get?</p>
<p>Parents with younger kids, are there any must-have toy items this season, like beanie babies, Tickle Me Elmos or Wiis have been in the past?</p>
<p>I tried going out last year during my first Black Friday in LA, but it’s way too crazy here for me. I’m from a nice, small suburban town out east, and I couldn’t believe how packed the stores were out here.</p>
<p>my daughter who teaches tells me Pokemon is still popular- can you believe it?</p>
<p>Saw today where some of the local malls and stores here in MD will be opening on Friday at 12 a.m. So if anyone out there is looking for that special something, watch you local papers for store opening times.</p>
<p>Not for me. I have not purchased anything from Black Friday’s opening for years now. I don’t like to wait in line.</p>
<p>I will happily celebrate Buy Nothing Day.</p>
<p>[Buy</a> Nothing Day - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia](<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buy_Nothing_Day]Buy”>Buy Nothing Day - Wikipedia)</p>
<p>because of the job uncertainty, we are keeping all cash in hand. Between now and a sure sign of recovery, we will not be buying not nothing, other than those essencial to life such as food and gas.</p>
<p>I seem to celebrate Buy Nothing Day plenty of other days during the year! This year, since D will be home for a couple of days, we might actually go do a bit of bargain hunting for fun.</p>
<p>It seems like everything is already on sale. If I was in a shopping mood, I wouldn’t wait until Friday! That said, we’re pulling waaaaaaaay back this year. Although we’re doing okay job-wise, our 401k savings have lost…well, more than I would ever think of spending.</p>
<p>If D was home it could be fun! Otherwise–the D and S really would prefer $$ and a few inexpensive gifts. I rememeber paying a dentist bill with my Christmas $$ when I was around 24–so I do understand.</p>
<p>At this point, all my two sons want are gift cards or cash. I like to put a few things under the tree, but they will be all small items. Black Friday sales are being watched very carefully - this will be a major indicator of how the Holiday season sales will be. If sales are down on Friday - watch for the market to dip even further.</p>
<p>I would be careful with gift cards. As more and more businesses are going belly up, gift cards will not be worth anything. Go with the cash to be safe!</p>
<p>I have never gone out shopping the day after Thanksgiving. In our family we are still in the Thanksgiving and family mode and shopping does not even enter our minds.
Also with so many stores already having sales I don’t know if you save all that much. Maybe on the ad items. But often those are while supplies last. I am not one of those get up early and wait in line people.
We did go yesterday to a local mountaineering store. They were having a balloon sale. 20% off everything in the store with a possibility of 30-40 off depending on the balloon you picked. I think the majority of the balloons were 20% off. H needed new snowboard boots, his previous pair broke after 6 yrs of use. H hates shopping and after 5 minutes was ready to give up and leave. He ended up with a rep from Burton helping him and found some boots he liked that fit. The store was packed and people were buying. This store stocks high quality brands. We don’t shop there often but they carry really nice things. I picked up for D3 long patagonia long johns that were on sale. They are expensive but 20% off is a decent sale on patagonia and she is done growing.</p>
<p>We also went to the surf store to look for a wetsuit for D3. I was surprised that they were full price. After an internet search I still had not found anywhere that had them on sale.
Also went to Sports Authority to buy shoes. The one’s H wanted were not on sale so we left. They are on sale in the new ad today so I will head back out again tomorrow.
I have reached the point I will not buy anything that is not on sale.</p>
<p>Did early black Friday online today. Bought a LCD TV. Circuit City will have them for early bird. Best Buy is selling them today.</p>
<p>I second the “be careful with gift cards” sentiment. Every store that files bankruptcy immediately has to “void” all gift cards and credit slips. Brookstone recently tried to fight that, and eventually was able to accept the gift cards, HOWEVER the buyer must spend 2x or more the value of the card in order to use the card.</p>
<p>Uh…no to gift cards this year. Cash is king. My D found 2 pairs of jeans at Forever 21 for $25 (total), and wants a space heater for her tiny NYC room. That’s her holiday gifts from me. She nor I cannot afford for her to come home even for a week this year, so she misses out on hugs too. I have asked for digital scans of her art work this year (she’s in fashion & film) as I want to be proud of her work.</p>
<p>This year sucks. Period.</p>
<p>I’m working cashier 6 A.M. to 2 P.M. this Black Friday.</p>
<p>All I ask is that, after standing in line for an hour and fighting to get the stuff you wanted, please be nice to me. Smile. There is nothing worse than being at the butt end of a painful experience and not having anything to do about it.</p>
<p>^ Just be efficient.</p>
<p>I have to be at work at 7 a.m. on Friday, but even if I didn’t, I wouldn’t go shopping on that day because I hate crowds more than I like bargains.</p>
<p>It’s hard to be efficient when people buy 30 shirts, 40 pairs of jeans, and 6 pairs of shoes and tell you–in a harsh, commanding voice–not to wrinkle anything.</p>
<p>On Black Friday, I will stuff all your stuff into as few bags as possible (do you know what happens when we run out of bags? It’s not pretty) and you will like it and be appreciative.</p>
<p>There’s a huge shopping mall near where I work.</p>
<p>I will try to get to work as efficiently as possible which probably means early in the morning so as not to have to negotiate the traffic snarls that occur at this time of the year. Same goes for leaving the office for home.</p>
<p>I went to Target today to look for one of those HD converter boxes. The ones that I saw were too expensive so I’ll wait a while.</p>