My unconventionally coiffed friend J. Money is nothing if not a realist. He figured that “about a bazillion” Black Friday posts would go up in the PF blogosphere right before the big day.
So he decided to make his own post about sex. Pretty much what you might expect from a guy whose site is called Budgets Are Sexy.
Of his “10 ways Black Friday is like sex,” my favorites were:
According to the National Retail Federation, 74 million U.S. residents were expected to take part in Black Friday promotions. Another 77 million planned to participate if the deals were worth the cold weather and the crowds.
Well, people were lining up at least three hours ahead of time at stores here in Anchorage. The weather had warmed up to double digits for the first time in days, but it was snowing pretty steadily — and let’s face it, standing in one spot for hours in 15-degree weather is still kinda chilly.
Some people will do anything to get a Kinect with four games for $99.
Today I had a pleasant realization about the Black Friday online deals that start at 12:01 a.m.: In Alaska, that’s only 8:01 p.m. My niece and I will be able to hit the one or two specific sites we wanted without staying up late.
Midnight isn’t that late, necessarily. My hostess and I were up until almost 3 a.m. yesterday. But my niece and I also plan to do some shopping outside the house, so that 8:01 start time means we can get sufficient sleep before joining the doorbusters queue. I believe that’s 5 a.m., and we’ll probably have to brush fresh snow off the car and warm it up for a while.
The food ads are mighty attractive at this time of year even up here in Anchorage, where prices are noticeably higher than in the Lower 48.
A few of the items currently being offered at decent sale prices: bacon, eggs, cheese, soup, canned tomatoes, flour, chicken broth, coffee, yams, canned and plain frozen vegetables, crackers (I’m partial to the cracked pepper and olive oil Triscuits), potatoes, butter, apples and canned beans.
The idea is to get us to buy extra ingredients for holiday meals and those homemade sweets. But why not buy extra ingredients for ourselves?
Today’s post is a bit of a grab-bag.
To anyone interested in joining Swagbucks: I might be able to get you 100 extra points. On Saturday evening I took part in an online chat about shopping/rewards sites. Those “attending” were given a code to offer to new referrals in addition to the usual 30-point sign-up bonus.
Four of us will be sharing our stories today at the SaveUp 2011 conference. Well, parts of our stories – we’re limited to 12 minutes apiece.
Our fellow DealPros voted the four of us having the tales they most wanted to hear. We’ll be talking via live stream, and you’re invited: If you RSVP and then “attend,” your name will be entered into a drawing for an iPad 2.
My phone provider, Qwest, is now called Century Link. Today a customer service rep phoned to see if I am getting the best deal possible. Turns out I am, but the lovely and talented Jason suggested a new frugal hack.
I mentioned that one of my upcoming trips might last as long as seven weeks. He said, “Then you’ll be turning off your phone, right?”
I didn’t know you could do that. Some frugalist I am.
Do you always grab for the tab, or do you and friends/roommates split even the smallest expenditures?
The first can leave you open to exploitation. The second can be aggravating if it becomes an exercise in, “SonyaAnn got the extra cup of ranch dressing so she owes 30 cents more.”
Treading that ticklish territory is the subject of my latest column over at MSN Money, “Your best friends’ bank: You.” (Edited to add: This article is no longer available since Microsoft changed platforms. Sorry about that.)
It’s always fun to go through the mail after you return from a long trip. True, a lot of what’s piled up is junk mail and charitable solicitations, but you always hope for some good stuff.
Two months’ worth of envelopes were waiting when I got back from Alaska in mid-July. I did find a $39 check from Mr. Rebates (yay, cash-back shopping!) and a couple of paychecks from my Get Rich Slowly gig. But the haul was mostly, well, junk mail and charitable solicitations.
And credit card applications. Ten of them.
Kids all over the country are in mourning, having seen “back to school” signs and adverts since early July. Today’s circulars included deals like 1-cent manual pencil sharpeners (Office Depot), 25-cent crayons (Kmart), free-after-rebate yellow highlighters (Staples) and $9 backpacks (Target).
It’s not time to buy yet, though.