I have given birth to boring. My daughter put up a blog post today that testifies to tedium:
“I check the leaked Friday ads for what the Walgreen’s site-wide discount will be – so that I can buy really exciting stuff like toilet paper and garbage bags.
“Last year, I made a whole Excel spreadsheet to find the best price for loading up on the aforementioned toilet paper and garbage bags, plus hand soap, body wash, a couple of skin-care products and…Ugh, it’s all a boring, boring blur.”
Truth is, my own tastes are fairly plebeian this year. In fact, I have only two things I really want to get:
Butter. It’s $2.29 per pound, limit five, at Fred Meyer. That’s noticeably cheaper even than Costco, and since DF and I are all about the holiday peanut brittle and sea-salt caramels, I plan to limit out on this greasy goodness.
Bedclothes. Sheets are on sale but I’m not sure I’ll get them; will depend on how they feel. I’m more interested in the micro-plush blanket sale, also at Fred Meyer. Right now we’re sleeping under a mass of loosely connected blanket molecules; it’s a machine-crocheted number that’s so old DF can’t remember its exact age. Still warm, but the crocheted holes are turning into gaps in spots so I want to get one of those blankets, which are limited to stock on hand.
Speaking of which: I may or may not go there at 5 a.m. Friday. Yes. On purpose, for a handful of reasons:
FOMO. That is a screamin’ deal on butter and lots of people want to bake with the stuff every holiday season so it might be gone by mid-morning.
FOMO, Part 2. “Limited to stock on hand” might mean that all the queen-sized micro-plush blankets will also sell out quickly. At that price – $9.99 – it’s a real possibility, so my fear of missing out is prudent, not paranoid.
Gift cards. The first 100 people through the door will get some store scrip. Probably just for $5, but half a sawbuck goes pretty far on Black Friday. For example, it would cover more than two of those pounds of butter.
Free doughnuts! And cider and coffee, but I expect I’ll ignore those.
The chance to write about the experience. Maybe, maybe not. Stay tuned.
Incidentally, Abby’s also got her eye on a non-boring purchase this year: an iPad. Naturally she has been shopping around and weighing her options along with the number of spoons she can expect to have on Black Friday. Stay tuned for that, too.
Black Friday 2017 deals for writers
Want to be a freelance writer? Holly Porter Johnson, one of my FinCon pals, is offering a temporary 20 percent discount on the Standard and Pro versions of her course.
Johnson routinely invoices for up to five figures per month. While no one can promise results like that, here’s what she can provide: specific, actionable info on how to position yourself to start getting paid work.
Here are just a few of the things you’ll get from the course:
- How to determine your writing niche, and where to find gigs to match
- Writing effective “cold” pitches
- How to set a fair price for your work (and how to raise that price over time)
- Best practices for an “efficient” workday, vs. spinning your creative wheels
- Access to the course Facebook page
About that last: I belong to that page myself, and can say that it’s a great source for information and job tips.
As noted, the discount is good only on the standard and pro packages of , which normally cost $199 and $349, respectively. The basic course package is $149, so in this case the standard package would about the same price.
The sale begins on Friday, Nov. 24 and ends Monday, Nov. 27. To sign up, visit the and use the coupon code BLACK25 at checkout.
And what the heck: I’ll put up a 25 percent discount on my own course, Write A Blog People Will Read. For the same time period noted above, visit my payment platform and enter the code BF2017 at checkout.
A Black Friday 2017 deal for frugal hackers
This one is truly one is courtesy of Lauren Greutman, the artist formerly known as “I Am That Lady” and the author of “The Recovering Spender: How to Live a Happy, Fulfilled, Debt-Free Life.” The deal takes a little bit of work but the rewards are impressive.
Shop at Kohl’s (online or in-store) and buy up to four small appliances for $19.99 each. Choose from:
The Hamilton Beach Slow Cooker ()
The Toastmaster Griddle ()
The Hamilton Beach Coffee Maker ()
The Bella Waffle Maker ().
(A fifth product, a hand mixer, is also available but Greutman says it costs $21.99.)
Use the coupon code SAVEBIG15 to get 15 percent off, and pay $67.97 for the four items (plus sales tax, if applicable).
Get back $15 in Kohl’s Cash.
Send away for a $12 mail-in rebate (find the form here) for each of up to four appliances. The rebate may be a check but it may also be a Visa prepaid card.
Get $3.40 back in Yes2You Rewards (a Kohl’s program; sign up here).
If you do all those things, you will pay 52 cents per appliance – and if you order through the Swagbucks rewards program, you’ll get an additional 3 percent rebate on the $67.97 purchase.
Obviously you’d need to find a way to use the $15 Kohl’s cash in good time, since these things expire. (Don’t they? Never used one.) At this time of year that’s not usually a problem.
And: You could keep the appliances, gift them, or sell them on Craigslist or a Facebook yard sale page.
Readers: Are you shopping at all on Friday? Why or why not?
Not sure of the shopping thing yet because I haven’t seen anything that I need or someone wants yet. Maybe dinner conversation on Thanksgiving will change my mind for the need to get out there and fight the crowds.
Happy Thanksgiving!
I’m so tempted to do the Kohl’s thing (except thru Ebates – where the Kohl’s cashback is 6% https://www.ebates.com/r/WISS222?eeid=28187) but I don’t need all that stuff. So then I think of how I can donate it, less the waffle maker! So then it becomes buy for buying’s sake, and that’s not very frugal. So I’m going to pass.
But the temptation is strong.
I may try it after we eat the turkey. My niece has a Kohl’s Yes2You card and so I’d let her get the credit since I rarely shop at Kohl’s. Actually, I have never bought anything there — but I guess if I do this deal I’ll be buying at least $15 worth of stuff. Possibly something for my son-in-law (they have some genre/geek stuff there, especially as it relates to “Star Wars”) or for someone else on my list.
Mostly, though, I’m done thanks to those rewards programs and a couple of rewards credit cards. It’s very soothing to know you don’t have to shop unless you really want to shop.
After putting them in my cart, I also ultimately came to the conclusion not to buy the items. I wouldn’t gift them with the bar code removed from the box. Thus the only reason to buy them would be to donate them.
A number of the black Friday specials are already available to purchase online. I’ve already placed an order (getting some Swagbucks, too) through Kohl’s. And yes, those Kohl’s cash coupons DO expire (the date on mine is they are only good for shopping from 11/26 through 12/06), so I’ll be thinking ahead on what to spend them on.
Many years ago I stood in line for things my daughter wanted for Christmas. For example, it was the year of the cabbage patch dolls and now you can’t give them away-LOL! I haven’t looked at many online flyers, but there really isn’t anything I want that would make me go out on Black Friday. Around here, I don’t think they have any grocery sales for that time that I know of. Have all my baking stuff in already, but due to hubby’s diabetes and other health problems, I really cut down on the baking as it is too tempting for him. The cookies I bake, I get out really fast to daughter, Aunt, and neighbors.
Black Friday shopping around here is too crazy, so I will pass. Also I have arthritis in my knees which makes that I can’t go as long as I used to.
You know, I used to be really into Black Friday, but not so much any more. First of all, I think it’s kinda weird that we all spend Thursday being thankful for what we have, and then starting at midnight, we want to rip each other’s throats out for a TV. I try not to leave the house on Friday until noon, when the craziness has died down.
I’ve always tended to buy loads of stuff I don’t need on Black Friday. The deals aren’t usually that good, they usually are for products I don’t need – but end up buying anyway, and therefore I think this year I will try and avoid them.
I live in NYC and people here are just nuts around the holidays. B So it will be turkey and TV at my house.
I’m working on Friday, so no shopping for me. I don’t do Black Friday or Cyber Monday. I have very few people to buy for this year.
I completed my Black Friday shopping Wednesday night before going to bed 🙂
Kohl’s online sale started at 9pm PST. Target came online at midnight PST so I just stayed up, and bought what I wanted – 2 google home minis ($30 instead of $50, plus two $10 target gift cards).
Thursday I will concentrate on trying a new recipe for sweet corn tomalitos to bring to Friendsgiving, and Friday I may check out the Goodwill near me – they often do some sort of manager’s special 50-75% off certain items. But I don’t have anything that I need to try to stand in line or fight crowds for!
Those plush blankets are SO compelling – every year I see them on sale, and am tempted – but then I remember that I *have* one – sitting on the couch – and I never use it…it’s far too warm for me to use on the bed 🙂 But then – I live in California and it doesn’t get cold enough here to need a nice warm blanket!
I hit up the Walmart Black Friday sale today at 12:30 a.m. on line. Got one gift done. Will not go shopping on Friday, Saturday or Sunday.
Sadly…We’re out…After many years of early rising with DD’s and heading out into the madness of “Black Friday”…we’re done. The kids are grown…And to me it seems the “deals” aren’t as generous as they once were. AAAnd all too often, as has been reported in the media, the advertised items are unavailable. Which I for one find troubling. So our thought is to be a bit more selective this year in purchases and gift giving and enjoy the day after Thanksgiving by not shopping….
No shopping for me on Black Friday. Like one of the other commenters, I find it a bizarre commentary on modern Amercian culture that we spend Thursday giving thanks for what and who we have, then turn around the next day and feverishly compete with each other to acquire more. On Small-Business Saturday, I’ll stop at a local bakery and nursery for a couple of things. Have a short list of household items (not TP, but equally boring) that I’ll check for online on Cyber Monday. If significantly cheaper than regular prices, I’ll buy. Otherwise, they’ll wait. Grocery stores in this area don’t do Black Friday discounts, so it’s actually not a bad day to food shop. (BTW, butter at 2.29# would be a really good deal here in the lower-48, never mind in Alaska. Anyone who does a lot of holiday baking would be well advised to take advantage of such a bargain. I hope you were able to get some – and the cozy blanket – Donna.)
So Donna, did you get the butter and sheets? I went out a bit ago, well after the hardcore shoppers were gone. My biggest scores were toothpaste and batteries. Woohee!
The butter deal isn’t until Sunday, I found out. Decided against the sheets but am very happy with the blanket purchase.
As it turns out, we did not go out on Black Friday. We don’t do much gifting, and we’re trying to move stuff *out* of the house, not bring more into it. I might have been tempted to swing by Hobby Lobby, just to see what they had on offer and possibly pick up a skein of yarn for a holiday present I’m weaving, but we weren’t really up for the excursion.
Younger Son had to work Thursday, so we had friends over for Thanksgiving dinner Friday. We did send Older Son to the IGA for crescent rolls and drinks.
I’d have been far more interested in celebrating the Artwalk downtown in conjunction with Small Business Saturday, but we ended up staying home and getting a few things done around the house. My, we’ve gotten boring as we’ve gotten older!
Speaking of crescent rolls: Did you ever try making “Resurrection Rolls”? I’m not a marshmallow fan but ehrmagerd are these delicious. Not marshmallow-y at all, somehow:
Dip large marshmallows in melted butter and then in a cinnamon-sugar mix. Roll them up in crescent-roll dough and pinch to close as tightly as possible; dip each dough ball in melted butter and then in cinnamon sugar, and place them in a very well-greased muffin pan. Bake at 400 until golden brown (about 15 minutes).
The marshmallows melt and disappear, leaving a hollow roll drenched in sweetness. Dang, these are good. That’s why we don’t make them very often, but they’re a natural for Easter morning.
FOMO? What does this mean? For One More Option? For One Money Order?
“Fear of missing out.” Meant to include that phrase in the paragraph. Whoops.
I am all for the holidays and enjoy gift giving, but it seems that they are in danger of becoming a hollow shell of what they were and what they could be. It makes me sick when I read of local stores opening on Thanksgiving afternoon so that people can do their “Black Friday” shopping. Where is the Thanksgiving holiday? Turkey, football, and shopping? Is that it? Some homes in our area had their outdoor Christmas lights up and turned on before Thanksgiving, and Thanksgiving came early in November this year. The lights ARE one of my favorite parts of the season, but not that early. That said, I did go to a craft show on Black Friday. I didn’t see anything that really spoke to me, but for the first time ever I won a door prize of a $20 gift certificate good at any booth. I managed to find something to use it on, so that was a plus. I also bought a DVD my husband requested at a great price at a local supermarket, and that was the extent of my Black Friday shopping.
People who don’t like the way the holiday is changing should definitely resist — and it sounds as though that’s what you’re doing.
Personally, I don’t give a rodent’s rear end for football. We don’t put up lights. Our teeny-tiny tree will go up at some point but probably not until a week (or a day) before Christmas. And I wound up going out at a reasonable hour on Black Friday and buying just a few things (mostly for us).
Other people can do Thanksgiving any way they like. This is what works for me — and, apparently, for you.
Thanks for reading, and for leaving a comment.
I always look forward to your posts both for what you say and how you say it. I forgot to mention that I am definitely going to try the Resurrection Rolls. An intriguing recipe!
Thanks for your kind words! And again, I don’t like marshmallows all that much but this recipe is really, really good.