Comments on: Black Friday: Tips for staying organized

By: Doctress Julia

Doctress Julia — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 20:08:13 +0000

Dave Taurus, you are AWESOME. And, I second all of your sentiments.

By: Marc Rohde

Marc Rohde — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 04:12:00 +0000

Why be organized? Two years ago a woman walked up to my wife’s cart and just took something out of it.

I hate Black Friday, it brings out the worst in humanity all in the name of saving money on crap we don’t need to celebrate a religious holiday that’s been hijacked by consumerism.

By: Lucyred

Lucyred — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 02:49:21 +0000

Merry Christmas to you Dave Taurus (aka Nasty Dave)

By: Dave Taurus

Dave Taurus — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 00:58:14 +0000

Always take a knife. A big f*ck off knife. That way, anyone gets in your way, slide the knife quickly and firmly up below their ribcage and twist. If you do this quickly and violently enough, they probably wont have time to scream. As they fall, try to nudge them into a quiet area of the shop. Remember, don’t let anyone get in the way of your rampant consumerism.

Alternatively, stop buying stuff. Really, just look at yourselves. Baying, bleating little sheep people lurching from consumer fix to fix, goggle eyed and focussed only on the next shiny thing you can grab with your greasy little fat sausage fingers. How about not worrying about 30% off some games console that you only use to placate your fat children in between trips to McDonalds? Why not use the opportunity to take little fatty to the park, take a ball, run about a bit (well ok, roll about a bit but its a start) and maybe you know, don’t spend any money. How about that for a radical idea?

By: Jessica

Jessica — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 07:10:41 +0000

I second Buy Nothing Day. I’ve worked too many Black Fridays or had relatives working that day and it messes up Thanksgiving since they have to be at work so early.

Also, I find it pretty awful that the day after we’re supposedly being thankful for what we have we’re off to buy more “stuff”. Not to mention how so many people treat Thanksgiving as an opportunity to stuff themselves silly and sit around…but ah well.

By: Rick Rottman

Rick Rottman — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 17:00:42 +0000

Hey, you forgot the one about wearing size 15 steel toe work boots. For me, it’s made dealing with parents who use a stroller as a battering ram much easier to deal with.

Ho Ho Ho!

By: Shannon Ritter

Shannon Ritter — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 15:53:03 +0000

I spend hours in the middle of the living room floor with all of the advertisements in front of me. I then make a list of all the stores, when they open, and what specific items I want from that store. Now, some stores open the same time as the other, so I then prioritize which item I want more and weigh that against the likelihood that others will also want that same item and try to determine how early I need to arrive. Also, keep in mind that lots of retailers start offering Black Friday deals right after midnight online so you can grab some quick online bargains even before you head out.

By: Alice

Alice — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 02:48:06 +0000

Don’t bother with the blanket… seriously, what do you think people think when they see a lumpy blanket covered mound in your backseat? Especially in the month before Christmas, is there really anyone out there who would see that and not think there was something valuable underneath?
Use the trunk, and if you are getting too much for one trunkful stage a handoff somewhere or go drop some at home. Visibly hiding stuff just tells a crook that there’s something worth hiding in there.

By: Alex

Alex — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 01:38:22 +0000

Great tips. So good I’m tweeting it. Here is the link.
http://twitter.com/alexmendoza/status/1023682401

By: Springpeeper

Springpeeper — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 16:11:10 +0000

I, too, am very thankful to be Canadian and not have this happening around me.

Of course, we have Boxing Day, but it doesn’t get the hype Black Friday does and it probably isn’t as horrible.

Years ago I discovered that December 26th – not the 25th – was the day I really looked forward to; all the stress was over and I could just relax at home, eat delicious leftovers, and enjoy the season. Nothing on earth could get me to go shopping on Boxing Day.

By: JC

JC — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 15:46:38 +0000

In my community, the day after Thanksgiving is not so much for buying things, but more of a gathering. There aren’t many major stores (between the two small towns there is a Fred Meyer, Home Depot, a new Lowes, JoAnn Fabrics and the local shops). In the last few years the stores have been packed early in the morning for some sales, but the major events are the afternoon craft fairs where you are mostly seeing what people have been doing/making, greeting friends you haven’t seen for awhile, and welcoming Santa to town (he usually arrives on dog sled). In the evening there is a light parade, free hot chocolate around a bonfire, and a major fireworks display. When I was young, the local theatre would play free kids movies all afternoon. My parents would just drop us off and they would go to the fairs without dragging us along. There isn’t that frantic shopping fever.

By: Cynthia Friedlob, The Thoughtful Consumer

Cynthia Friedlob, The Thoughtful Consumer — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 07:07:13 +0000

My blogpost today was about Buy Nothing Day, so I’m on the same page as anon and Gayle — how about staying home?

I also agree with Gayle that the photo is frightening! It’s just stuff they’re buying, and I’d bet that most of those frantic folks in the picture already have plenty of stuff!

By: Another Deb

Another Deb — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 04:56:00 +0000

The easiest day I ever spent shopping for Christmas presents was the day before Thanksgiving. The malls were dead. Everyone was at the grocery stores.

By: lucille

lucille — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 01:47:11 +0000

We did the early morning black friday thing one year. We took all the ads and cut out the flyer portion of the item we wanted. Then we made a page for each store in a notebook that we taped the desired items into. The front of the notebook had the list of what stores to go to in what order based on the time the deal was available and what ones we wanted the most or was going to be in demand. This made it easy to see exactly what we were after in each store.

The best deals we found were on some of the things people were not fighting over. Home items and holiday decorations. We found great deals on both at a big box home store and Michaels crafts.

By: Fit Bottomed Girls

Fit Bottomed Girls — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 01:39:45 +0000

I know there are good deals on Black Friday, but I just can’t do it. I’d rather shop late on a Friday night then brave the crowds.

By: Another Deb

Another Deb — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 01:24:42 +0000

My side of the family has decided not to exchange gifts this year. We’ll buy for the kids under 18 but the rest of us have realized that the stress of finding and shipping gifts and receiving more “stuff” is ruining the holiday”

Instead, I used the money I would have spent on a charity food drive my school is promoting. I got to shop, the needy get to eat. Win Win.

By: Melissa A.

Melissa A. — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 21:15:41 +0000

I’m knitting all my gifts and bought most of my yarn over the summer or online. So I’m glad I don’t have to shop. However I live in Canada so we don’t have Black Friday. Typically I aim to have all my shopping done by the end of November.

By: Sheryl

Sheryl — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 17:18:59 +0000

I avoid shopping on Black Friday like the plague, but this year a friend and I are going thrift store shopping. They open at a humane hour and always have great deals!

By: Gayle

Gayle — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 17:01:53 +0000

I was just about to talk about Buy Nothing Day!

That photo looks terrifying, by the way. I’m glad we don’t have this sort of madness in Canada!

By: anon

anon — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 16:53:29 +0000

How about just participating in Buy Nothing Day instead?