Black Friday

Not soon after the Thanksgiving festivities were finished on Thursday, it was time to make preparations for "Black Friday" shopping. Margie, Kristen and I have begun a shopping tradition we like to call "Shopping Extravaganza". This year marked the third annual year of shopping craziness for us and it is the official kickoff to Christmas shopping.

First we had to map out a plan. We consulted all the sale papers, clipped coupons, and made an agenda based on time of opening, importance of item, and location of store. With all those things considered, we decided that purchasing the Garmin GPS would be the item of the day. After much research it was discovered that Sears had the GPS for the best price, $89.99 for a $189.99 Garmin.

Before we made our way to battle for the best deals of the season, we met at my house. We decided to stay up through the night and be completely prepared. So with no sleep we left at 3:00 am to go wait for Sears to open at 4:00 am. And so the day begins....

Here are our 3rd Annual Shopping Extravaganza shirts, everyone loved our shirts!!

The line at Sears was very long, extending pass the length of the building! The doors opened right at 4am and we made a mad dash to electronics. We were hurrying people along and Margie was distracting others by shouting out, "Hurry, hurry, everything is sold out!". We were the first at the counter and bought 2 Garmins and 3 Flip video cameras. The only 3 flip cameras in the store that day!! It was the biggest find of the day for me, it was a $150 camera that was on sale for $19.99!!! I was so excited, I have been trying to purchase one of these for my classroom and was thrilled to find this great deal.

Here is Kristen making the first purchase of the day!

We were in and out of there in no time flat! We made another stop at the mall and quickly were on our way to Home Depot. Home Depot had lots of big savings! I got 2 four-foot pre-lit outdoor Christmas trees for $20.00! These were hard to come by, I got one of the last ones and endured several rude comments from those who were not as fortunate. Just one of the joys of Black Friday shopping!

We made a little stop at Wal-Mart just to "check-it-out." Umm.....what is wrong with these people! The scenario at Wal-Mart is unbelievable, carts literally wrapping the entire store with people waiting over 2 hours just to pay for their items. So chaotic!! We walked in, checked out the craziness, and immediately walked out, vowing to NEVER go near Wal-Mart on Black Friday again.

Home Depot had poinsettias for 99 cents!

We then made a little run to Target. We found some good deals on DVDs and bought some Christmas decorations. This stop is a "Shopping Extravaganza" must! And the same cashier checked us out two years in a row! Pretty funny!

We shopped throughout the morning and afternoon, had so much fun going from store to store and getting all the great deals. But most of all it was great to spend time with Kristen and Margie!

Shopping Extravaganza By the Numbers:

3:00 am - Start of the day

33 degrees - temperature while waiting in line outside of Sears

4:00 am - doors open at first store

$130 - money saved on Flip camera

7 - number of artificial Christmas trees in my car at one time! (one - 7 1/2 foot and six - 4 foot)

3 - number of four foot trees I purchased

8 - number of 99 cent poinsettias purchased

25 - stops at stores throughout Hattiesburg made by the Shopping Extravaganza crew

3 - elbow shoves endured while getting Christmas trees at Home Depot

31 - hours without sleep

13 - hours of shopping

1 - great day and lots of memories made!

I can't wait for Shopping Extravaganza 2010, we are already designing the shirts!!