The Craziness of Black Friday

So yes I survived the craziness of Black Friday. Got to Walmart I thought a little early at 8:45 - nope not early enough - so did the rest of my small town. After parking at the very back of the parking lot, I walked the half mile in to realize there are no buggies left. Exactly how was I suppose to rack up in savings if I didn't have a buggy? Turned back around and walked around the parking lot until I found some guys who let me steal their buggy. Complete craziness!

Got back inside and pushed my way through the crowds. At times I just wanted to scream and give up but I kept pushing on thinking I was seriously insane for putting up with this. But after about 3 times around the store, I finally picked up a few of the items on my list and started to feel better. Of course walking around the store 3 times only took me 3 hours so by this time it was starting to clear out. I believe it was about 1:00 am when I finally checked out with everything that I had wrote down on my list. Mission completed!

Some of the highlights of my night/morning were the parents yelling at their kids to shut up, the teenagers who came just to "people watch" and block the aisles so you couldn't get through, the older gray hair man in Kmart the next morning at 5:30 am who got escorted out for fighting, and saw the same parents who told their kids to shut up at Kmart bright and early the next morning - seriously their poor kids didn't get any sleep! Oh yes you have got to LOVE the craziness of Black Friday!!!

Closing the Store Down

It's been awhile since I have been shopping. By shopping - I mean real, shop to you drop, much needed retail therapy kind of shopping! I didn't have to buy anything for anybody else. It was all for me and it felt good. Since I am really only able to do this once a year after my birthday, you can see why this is such a special time for me.

But for some reason when my husband came home, it took me awhile to get motivated to go out. Once I finally hit the stores, it felt just like the old days and I was grabbing clothes left and right. I knew I had to spend at least $80 to get use out of my $40 off coupon. Was you expecting anything less? Of course I had a coupon! This $80 total proved to be a bit more difficult to spend then I thought. Once I got to the register with my 5 items, the bill only totaled to $59 because a few of the items were either cheaper than the tag said or was on clearance which didn't count towards my coupon. I knew they were closing down shortly so I hurried to grab the $30 boots I was looking at but even those darn things were on sale too still making my total less than the required $80. By this time the other girl working there was pulling down the mall entrance gate and locking the front door so I started to panic. Thankfully the cashier offered me some $9.99 perfume up front and that ladies and gentleman is how I finally got my $40 off my final bill! So in conclusion I got 2 sweaters, 3 shirts, pair of black boots, and some really good smelling perfume all for a grand total of $65.80.

It's so funny because on any other day I would have been ecstatic see the prices lower than I expected. On this trip, I was throwing things at this poor woman just to get the $40 off! But now that I am home, I can appreciate my total savings of over $60 with Rue 21 and look forward to spending the $20 Rue Bucks I received for my next purchase. Hopefully next time, I won't be closing the store down with my insane need to save money!

Need Retail Therapy?

So if you are counting down the days until Christmas like me, there are only 51 more shopping days left. Have you started your list yet or are you waiting until the all so glorious Black Friday? Well if you are one of those who refuse to stand the craziness of Black Friday or just need some retail therapy this weekend, here is a list of great coupons in our shopping area:

 

• Aeropostale - $10 off $50 Purchase exp 11/6
• Barnes & Nobles - 50% off 1 Print Book for Facebook Fans
• Bath & Body Works - $10 off $30 Purchase exp 11/20
• Express - $15 off $30 Purchase exp 11/06
• JCPenney - $10 off $25 Purchase exp 11/07
• Kohl's - 15% off Shopping Pass exp 11/06
• Old Navy/Gap/Banana Republic - 30% off Friends and Family Pass exp 11/08

If you are not getting out this weekend and need a great gift idea, try the Snapfish website for a great deal. Until November 8th if you enter the code MYFALLBKS, you can buy 1 photo book and get 2 for free. These make a great gift for grandparents and then you get to keep one for yourself! I did this last year for mine and Jake's parents and they loved it!

Hope these deals will help you save some money this holiday season! A special thanks to the Krazy Coupon Lady and my other favorite blog sites for their help on these deals! I have put up links to their sites on the right side of my blog. Have a great shopping weekend everyone!