McLinky Monday - Black Friday

Today at The RHOK, Mrs. Albright wants to know about our agenda for Black Friday.  Do you go...or is it your worst form of torture?  She also asked us to post our tips and tricks.

Ok, so here's the DL on BF.

Yes, I go.  It's one of my deep rooted Thanksgiving traditions.  Courtesy of my momma.  She gave me my shopping gene.  When I was little my Granny and aunts would set out on an all day shopping venture, I remember wanting to go so badly.  I've always been a shopper.  My Granny says when I was little they would give me $5 and I would come home with a whole bag full of stuff.

We have this Black Friday thing down to a fine science.  The day of Thanksgiving, we send one of the guys to the gas station for newspapers...lots and lots of newspapers.  We have to have plenty to go around.  First, we just all go for it.  Dividing and conquering the sales ads.  Then, we get strategic.  We start sorting out the stores, the items we're all looking for and making piles.  After that, we compile a master list.  We decide where we'll start first and what is most important.  We also list any extra coupons that we might have that would sweeten any of the doorbuster deals.

Usually, our day starts at our hometown Wal-Mart.  It's easy to maneuver.  There aren't nearly the number of people there compared to the stores in Tulsa.  We start there about 3:30 in the morning.  You've gotta be early to get these worms.  After we wait for our items in Wal-Mart, we go ahead and make a drop-off...clear out the vehicle for the purchases we plan on making in Tulsa.

The first stop in T-Town is Starbucks.  It's a given.  By this time we all need it.  Usually we've had coffee, but no breakfast and definitely not Starbucks.  This will be our first stop of many during the day.

After our stop at the Bux, we venture off to the next store, usually Target or Khol's depending on what is in the sales ad and how early you have to be there to get the items.

We always stop sometime for a nice lunch and we've been known to even eat dinner before we finally make it back to Wagoner, where we have also been known to hit Wal-Mart one more time before making it home.  There have been years when we don't finish up until wee hours of Saturday morning.

We're power shoppers.  Black Friday is like our Super Bowl.

One of my favorite tools for Black Friday is my nifty app.  TGI Black Friday.  It's a great app w/ lists of all the stores and their sales ads.  You can even make a list on there.  I love lists!

You can also visit BlackFriday2010.com for all the latest sales ads.  They will send you email alerts and updates.

This year there will be 9 of us going.  My cousins, Lindsay and Kristen will be home for the annual event for the first time in a few years!  I can't wait!!

What are your Black Friday traditions?  Or are you more of a Cyber Monday person?  Or do you hate the whole idea all together?

Check out more Black Friday posts over at The RHOK!

~jennykate♥

Black Friday Confessions

So, here it is...once again it is BLACK FRIDAY!!! I'm so flippin' excited. I have a few confessions regarding Black Friday. I'm sure a few of you will nod your head in agreement, while others will for sure be thinking I'm crazy. Regardless, here they are:

• We've mapped out our stores. Seriously. My mom and I literally have a map of where we want to go, when we want to be there (according to what time they open), and how long we can spend there.


• We have a list of each item we want to buy at each store.


• I have coupons and I'm not afraid to use them. It just occurred to me that I can use a coupon with a Door Buster Deal...I'm all over that!


• We will hit Starbucks at least 3 times before the day is over.


• We have our own shopping basket. It can fold flat...like the ones people take to craft fairs. We take it to haul all of our goods around the mall. Wal-Mart and Target have baskets, but not the mall! Have you ever tried to carry 20 bags around a mall for 10 hours? Your hand will go numb and you will start to feel like you might lose a limb. It's brutal.


• Sometimes we take a shopping break and see a Holiday movie. If my mom and aunt decide to catch a Holiday movie at the theater, I will probably bail and catch one more viewing of New Moon...a date with Edward and Jacob is just simply irresistible.


• My uncle is our chauffeur. If you haven't tried it, you should. He drives us to the door and we call him when we're ready to leave...and he drives back up to the door to retrieve us and our bags. All he requires is food! It's fantastic!


• We've been known to call my dad and have him drive to Tulsa to unload our vehicle so that we have room for more purchases.


• We've also been known to stay out almost a whole 24 hours. Now, that's what you call marathon shopping.

Don't worry. I won't be doing this.

Do you shop on Black Friday? If so, what's your confession?