Meanwhile, I picked up two potential wedding gifts at $7 each (its hard to make a decent wedding gift for less than $7), and a blu-ray player for my father-in-law for $78. That might be out of your price range while still in debt, but it is a much higher quality gift than I could have bought him for the same price retail. For that gift, I didn’t save *money*, but I did increase the quality of the gift I am able to give, which was worth the time it took.

That’s what we tend to do with Black Friday sales. We have a budget for each person on our list. We can get them a $20 gift retail, or a $60 gift for $20 on Black Friday. I am way into gift giving, so it is totally worth the hassle to me.

Oh, and we stopped by a farm behind our house to pick up a couple of handmade (by someone else) presents for my mother and friends. I’m always happy to support a local business that I like, no matter what day of the year.

Frondly, Fern

1.If you’re in debt, buy the things that you NEED that are going on sale.

2. Nobody likes a homemade gift. Seriously, get real.

3. The more the better, pile up on stuff you actually need.

4. The crazy shopping factors the best part! Have some fun shopping, go wild.

“we’ll be at home spending time with loved ones, making homemade gifts, and relaxing with fresh ground coffee and hot chai tea”

boring, boring, boring. I know my family would rather go shopping than sit around talk about stuff we dont really care about. And besides, WHO ACTUALLY does that!? And again with the homemade gifts! If you want a handmade scarf made by your granny, that’s you. But others want something better.

Oh, and if you don’t have money to go shopping. Don’t bitch about it on here saying that’s the only reason you’re not going. Because admit it, if you had the extra cash you’d be spending

However, the last two years I’ve found myself venturing out on the dreaded day, and the only reason I think I can tolerate it is that—wait for it—I’m not shopping.

Last year Scoob bought me a new digital camera the day before Thanksgiving to replace the old broken one, but on Black Friday we found that the same camera had been marked down $150. So we ventured out to get a refund. I was amazed that no one was waiting in the returns line and we were in and out in no time. Also, we were doing this in Eugene, OR, a much smaller metro area than either Portland or the Bay Area. Fewer people typically means fewer crazies and the day was actually enjoyable.

Today, we’re venturing out to San Francisco’s Union Square—SF’s shopping mecca—except again, we’re not going for the shopping. Instead we’re going for the tree-lighting in the evening and hoping to get some good photos.

Anyhow, I think I’ve finally learned that I don’t need to be a Grinch on Black Friday and barricade myself in the house.

Since it’s such a terrible year for retailers, it’s best to wait on their desperation and haggle like there’s no tomorrow the closer we get to Christmas.

There’s good intel at http://bit.ly/6yh3oo for info on how to negotiate with stores.

John DeFlumeri Jr

I went online today & bought a coffee-maker, a software program, and a USB flash drive. Free shipping. That’s it. Nothing out there that gets my attention to much this year.

I, for one, don’t need most of the stuff being hocked, but if others see something (usually of the laptop variety), then by all means, go get it.

Also, I’m hearing that the deals this year are much less than previous years as the stores are having a harder time to justify huge markdowns.

Of course the other reason is that I run an online business and this weekend is likely to be busy for me.

Either way, I think it’s important to save throughout the year if you REALLY need something, and not buy on a whim…especially since Christmas is just around the corner.

Still, my husband is Christian so we do give some gifts to family. We’d like to send fruit baskets every month of the year to our mothers, to help make sure that they eat right. We can’t afford that, so we’re … uh … mostly *I* am baking cookies or cakes to send them every month. That way we can encourage them to have friends/neighbors over for coffee & sweets and socialize more easily.

Frondly, Fern