Who's Going Shopping and for What?

Updated on November 27, 2017
H.M. asks from Midlothian, TX
15 answers

First of all I want to tell everyone I hope they have a Happy and Safe Thanksgiving.
My question is who is going black Friday shopping? Are you going for something specific or just to go? And also if you are going for something specific what is it?

I am pretty sure I am going and I will be trying to find stuff for my son's dorm that is moving off to college for the first time in January. I thought I would have till next fall but he changed his plans, so my shopping list is towels, bedding, microwave and a foot locker. My husband wants to find parts to build a computer. So it should be interesting. I am hoping to go with my mom and let the guys go together.

Add: my black Friday will not be door busters. I can't do that. Did it one when my oldest needed a laptop that was insain. Thanks for the tip on bed bath and beyond. We are pretty sure we know who his room mate will be and been getting with his mom on appliances.
The computer stuff is for my 15 year old that wants his brother tho build him one before he leaves.

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S.S.

answers from Atlanta on

Not going out at all. Not going to get involved in that madness.

I'm done shopping. I will be wrapping presents and watching my son's get the Christmas Tree up.

5 moms found this helpful

More Answers

B.C.

answers from Norfolk on

Black Friday is getting stretched - many places have their discounted prices in place now.
We just got back from getting some hiking boots for our son - we got %25 off.
Came in just under $90.
We also hit the bookstore, used our store discount card and %20 off coupons and got a lot of books our son was looking for just under $200.
For official Black Friday - I refuse to leave my house.
The stores and parking just get too crazy for my taste.
If I can order online - great!
We usually look forward to Cyber Monday!

Additional:
For college dorm - Bed Bath & Beyond is your friend!
You don't want to over do it - they have very limited space.
When we went last summer to outfit our son for the fall - the %20 coupons were for one item at a time.
We brought something like 20 of them - and their register is smart enough to apply them to most expensive items first.
So collect as many as you can - get mailed coupons from friends/neighbors if they aren't going to use them and print them off the internet.
Get a good mattress pad.
Don't worry about appliances (microwave, mini fridge, tv, printer) until he coordinates with his room mate.
For computer - many colleges will have requirements and recommendations - work with them on that.
Certain areas of study will require CAD software and the computer has to be powerful enough to be able to run it.
A college might also have tech support/repair service with loaners in case his laptop falls off his lofted bed (I've been told this happens more often than you'd think!).
Make sure it's small enough to carry in a comfortable backpack - college kids carry their laptops with them EVERYWHERE - many will work while they eat meals in cafeterias - or anywhere on campus with wifi (which is usually everywhere).
It's an exciting time!
Congrats!

5 moms found this helpful
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M.G.

answers from Portland on

I have been getting early deals all week online. They probably are not the best deals, but they are things I needed, that I get every year (like pajamas for Christmas Eve, that sort of thing) on these great deals - so I just stock up.

I was lucky with some toys also - I saw when they went on sale. I'm sure they may go on further discount, but I don't do line ups and I am always concerned they will sell out. For the small difference in price, I'd rather be done early and not think about.

That's exciting your son will be moving off to college! that will be fun to shop for. That's my kind of shopping. I like to organize and that sounds like fun.

Happy Thanksgiving and I hope you all find some great buys!

5 moms found this helpful

D.B.

answers from Boston on

I understand the desire for bargains, but this has become such a ridiculous gimme-gimme day where people go buy more stuff a day after supposedly being thankful that they have so much. I refuse to get up at 4 AM and I'm just livid at stores that open so early (from 6 PM on Thanksgiving on) that their employees (who often make dirt-poor wages) cannot even have a Thanksgiving Day with their own families because they have to be at the store 1-2 hours before opening. I also can't stand seeing the news reports of people trampled - right after people like you and me have wished everyone a happy and safe Thanksgiving. I wish the stores wouldn't push this and would just open at 9 a.m. like always to accommodate those who rarely have a day off. So I refuse to be a part of it. I think, if I look carefully, I can find bargains especially at smaller independent stores. So my policy is, I don't shop in Nov./Dec. at any store that opens before 8 a.m. on Black Friday. And I don't shop at all, all year long, at anyone that opens on Thanksgiving Day or up to 8 a.m. on Friday. If they survey me, I tell them why they lost me.

Congrats on your son's journey to college! One thing you might look for are the risers that go under the bed to raise it up another 6-10 inches. That gives him a lot more storage space underneath. Measure the footlocker against the risers though - you might need 2 sets. I don't think you need to go on Friday for that - you won't get a bargain on it then. Better to watch for a 20% Bed/BathBeyond coupon and buy later on. Also, do you have a list from the college?
Before you buy bedding, check to see if they specify a "long twin" bed - don't buy regular twin sheets if they do. You might actually do better at a store near the college, which will stock up on what kids need - that saves a lot of space in your car if you can size up the room, measure, and then go pick up a few things. From your list, I don't see much that will be heavily discounted on Black Friday except maybe the microwave and computer parts.

Enjoy your Thanksgiving and these last few weeks before your son takes off on his own!

5 moms found this helpful

D.D.

answers from Boston on

No I don't go shopping on Black Friday any more. Now all the grandkids sleep over Thanksgiving night and we get dressed and go out to breakfast in the morning. Then we come home and work on the Christmas tree decorations (different theme every year so we have to make all the decorations) and then we usually go to the movies in the afternoon. This year we'll be seeing Thor. Sure beats all the rude pushy people who seem to come out looking for a bargin bur forgetting their good manners at home.

5 moms found this helpful

T.F.

answers from Dallas on

Happy Thanksgiving to you!

I do not get out on Black Friday. I stay as far away from that mess as possible.

Good luck with your shopping!

4 moms found this helpful
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J.T.

answers from Dallas on

Happy Thanksgiving! No, I feel claustrophobic just thinking about regular holiday season shopping, much less Black Friday 😳

All of my Christmas shopping is done, and 95% of it has been wrapped for over a month... I don't enjoy crowds or stressing to find what I'm looking for.

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E.B.

answers from Honolulu on

We never go out on Black Friday, except perhaps to the closest grocery store in case we need an item or two.

Otherwise, it's Leftover Stuffing and Mashed Potatoes and Gravy and Turkey Friday in our house. It's a day to relax, and enjoy the leftovers. One of our favorites: a grilled sandwich filled with sliced turkey, Swiss cheese, and Thousand Island dressing.

I will, however, look at deals online. I'm searching for an external hard drive with a lot of room on it, like 3 or 4 or 5 TB of storage, for my daughter's video game console.

Happy Thanksgiving to you, too!

4 moms found this helpful

T.S.

answers from San Francisco on

I love to Christmas shop but I hate Black Friday because of the traffic, parking, crowds and lines. I actually did quite a bit last weekend, did a fair amount online and am happy to say I'm almost done! I'll be going to a few fairs and markets between now and Christmas and picking up (or ordering) a few more presents for my kids but that's it. Yay me!

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M.D.

answers from Pittsburgh on

I live near a mall so I hide in my house on black Friday because traffic is too terrible to go out. However, DH wants a smart watch and I think I know which one I want to get him and am just watching online for deals. Both kids have mentioned book series that they want and I'll wait a few days until traffic calms down and head to half price books for those. MIL loves photo gifts, and I've already ordered her annual calendar, a new 8X10 family pic in a frame, plus a canvas print of the kids - found a 60% off the total order on Snapfish online code!

Despite the crazy traffic, I love this time of year!

3 moms found this helpful
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C.W.

answers from Santa Barbara on

There is no discount in the world that would get me shopping in the next week or so. I'm taking my daughter to Hawaii in two weeks, we will need a few things for the trip. We love experiences more than stuff.

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J.K.

answers from Wausau on

I will click around a bit for online deals on a couple things I haven't found yet, but I don't leave the house on Black Friday. I do most of my holiday shopping in October. Stores are pretty low-key about advertising, but they hold deep discount sales then. Except for doorbuster-bait and things newly released in Nov/Dec, the October sales beat many Black Friday & Cyber Monday prices. I never asked, but my theory for physical stores is that they are making space for the pallets of doorbuster items they don't normally stock in such bulk.

3 moms found this helpful

N.G.

answers from Boston on

I wish that I still had the social network who did that. It was a fun thing that I used to do. I miss it. No, I am now a home body and will be at home with grandkids too young to go out to do that.

2 moms found this helpful

P.L.

answers from Washington DC on

Hope you had a happy Thanksgiving too! I think the older hubby & I get, the wiser. No going out on in wee hours of the morn in freezing weather, waiting in lines forever to be in cray cray crowds, and not brick & mortar shopping ON Thanksgiving... But as I check my e-mails, got a bunch from various stores like Target, Jcpenny saying i can shop online now(Thursday) and get the same deals as in store, there's one dyson vacuum I really wanted so I will do that online tonight. Good idea with the B,B& B, also if you sign up for their newsletter/e-mail they send ya a 20% coupon. Congrats on your son moving off to college dorm.
P

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N.K.

answers from Miami on

Happy Thanksgiving to you too! No way am I doing Black Friday shopping. I have seen plenty of videos throughout the years of the large crowds, the fighting over an electronic or toy, even the overnight camping out that it's just not worth all that trouble for me. I hate large crowds, people bumping into me and stepping on me makes me extremely irritable too, and crowds and lack of sleep generally cause people to have high tempers. I don't want to take my chances at a time when people can become violent and irrational.

I took my daughter to the movies on that day instead, and the mall parking lot was a zoo, even though we went around 8 PM. I cannot imagine what the stores were like that entire day. My sister works in high end retail and she said her store was pretty crowded, so a store like Macy's would probably have been a madhouse. I did go to the mall on Saturday again, and since things were a bit calmer, I got some discounted costume jewelry for myself and my daughter, as well as a cute top that had a 25% off discount. These days, most retailers have smartened up to us introverts and homebodies and now offer online coupon codes for Black Friday for those preferring to stay home and do their shopping online.

I'm looking online for Cyber Monday deals, since I want to buy a TV for my mother, but that is it. Pretty much all shopping I do for gifts throughout the year consists of online shopping, gift cards, or cash. Either that, or I let my mom or sister go to the mall, pick up a designer purse they like, and give them a check or cash to cover the expense as their holiday gift. I second someone's suggestion of Bed Bath & Beyond, as my co-worker said the entire store is discounted, one of the few stores to do so. Might want to try Target too, even Wal-Mart, as their prices are usually quite low to begin with. Another suggestion is Groupon/LivingSocial, they have Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals on everything from comforters and pillows to laptops.

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