Black Friday

So, how pathetic is it that I check my OWN blog to see if anything has changed? I mean, obviously I know there is no new post; but I keep thinking maybe there might be a comment waiting to be discovered that I didn't see the first dozen or so times I logged on. Really, that's pathetic. This time I decided to actually post something for you to find.

I am one of those people.  The Black Friday shoppers. I download the adscans weeks before they are officially released to plan my day long before the sale papers hit the news stands on Thanksgiving morning.  This year, I even went to Target right before closing on Wednesday to scout out the locations of all the deals I knew were coming according to my web source.  There were several things I wanted, but there was one REALLY good deal I was determined to get: a TomTom XL 340-S for $150.00 off the retail price.  It wasn't the cheapest GPS, but it was the most marked down and I wanted that deal. In case you are wondering, here's how it went.

I literally ran through the front door of Target at 5:25 on Friday morning. Incidentally, that was exactly five minutes after waking up, 25 minutes after they opened, and 1 hour after I planned on arriving to wait in line with the other loons. Luckily I live one minute away and do not believe in wearing make-up before dawn just to shop. I sprinted to the electronic department with my shoes untied and my new Bon Jovi tee in my purse (there was no time for the top layer of clothing) I was certain the TomTom was gone. I was right. Sold out in 25 minutes.

All wasn't lost, though.  I took time to tie my shoes and put on my t-shirt (thanks for the perfect b-day gift, Lynn), picked up everything else on  my  computer-generated shopping list, met up with my friends Holly and Bethany, and pushed a buggy around the store until I was quite satisfied I had reached a pausing point.

I checked out, earned $30.00 in gift cards, and headed to K Mart for the next-best deal on the TomTom. There were two left and I happily returned to Target to make one more round of shopping. Even two hours after opening, Target was packed.  I saw people I knew everywhere. At one point, I was standing in the main aisle talking to a long-lost high school classmate about the deals she scored when Holly called for me from across the store to stop talking and "come here!" I admit I was slightly put out- it was a good story. In any case, I moseyed on over to find her and Bethany hovering over a buggy that had the TomTom in it. Can you believe it? The deal that got away at 5:30 was waiting in an abandoned cart for me at 7:00- right in the middle of the toy section.  Now if you aren't a Black Friday shopper, you might not appreciate how HUGE that is.  But trust me, that is the stuff of legends. I asked the people around the cart if it was theirs, looked both ways, grabbed the box and took off to the register!  What a rush.



Retail Price: $249.00
Sale Price:     $97.00
Gift Cards earned shopping at Target: $30.00

Total Price: $67.00