My Husband's First Black Friday

           

          If you read my blog, you know that we have plenty of room to grow into our new home and have been trying to furnish our home in a budget-friendly way.  Since we both know that Black Friday is one of the best times of year to invest in electronics, we kept a close eye on the ads this year.  The $199 42 inch door buster TV that Best Buy was offering would have been great for the loft, but when we discovered a long line of tents as we drove by our Best Buy at 11:00 AM on Thanksgiving morning, we quickly ruled out getting a TV for our loft. 

     

        We did, however, end up with a TV to put in the refinished armoire for our bedroom.  Our armoire will only hold a 32 inch TV, and we ended up getting a really good deal on one from Wal-Mart. 

        Matt and I kept debating about going shopping this year, but before it was all said and done, I dragged my husband out for his first Black Friday experience.  I had mixed reactions about the stores opening so early this year.  At first, I thought it was just ridiculous that stores were opening at midnight and cutting into family time on Thanksgiving, but I have to tell ya that I have been converted to midnight madness.  It just makes more sense to go shopping at midnight when a lot of people are already awake and energetic instead of waking up at the ungodly hour of 3:00 a.m. to wait for stores to open their doors at 5:00 in the morning.  Midnight hours certainly made for a more enjoyable and less cranky shopping experience in my opinion.

          Best Buy, hhgregg and Wal-Mart all had the same TV that we wanted for the same sale price, and believe it or not, Wal-Mart ended up looking like the most promising place to experience a somewhat calm Black Friday.  Our Wal-Mart was packed but completely organized.  Because Wal-Mart’s doors were open before midnight, they had lines set up for each door buster item.  When the clock struck midnight, they handed out the must-have items, making it easier to get to the registers.  Matt and I were able to get the one item that we went in the store for before midnight  (only because we didn’t have to wait in one of the many organized lines they had in the store to get our item), wait by the cash registers until midnight, check out by 12:30 and arrive home by 1:00.......  

.....all before waking up and doing some more Christmas shopping Friday morning after the crowds died down;)  Overall, this year was a really easy Black Friday shopping experience for us.  That's probably a good thing, because it shouldn't be too hard to convince my husband to go back out with me again next year:)