My First Ever Black Friday! Yikes!

I love to shop! But, I've never participated in the whole "Black Friday" hysteria because it never seemed worth it to me to save $10 on a pair of kids jeans for Christmas. But this year's budget is a little tighter than years' past so the thought of saving $25-$50 on some Christmas presents had some appeal. Wal-Mart was selling toys and housewares stuff at 12:01 a.m. I figured I could just stay up a little late and head over to Wal-Mart to nab a few items. That seemed totally doable vs. the idea of 4 a.m. at Target.

I decided to head to bed at 9 p.m. to catch a few winks. I was too excited! I maybe slept for 30 minutes before I got up at 11 p.m. This is me right before I left, bloodshot eyes and all. (I was sleeping on my face too, I'm all puffy and wrinkly.)

My friend, Amy H. met me at Wal-Mart and we browsed around until midnight, waiting for the bloody noses and scratching eyes out to start. I was pleasantly surprised that most shoppers were giddy and having a good time. There were a few grouches who should've just stayed in bed.

Total saved on Jack's present at Wal-Mart: $15. Saved $15 on Juliet's presents. Got a stocking stuffer for Merril, saving $5. And bought some towels, a $1.96 DVD of P.S. I Love You, and $12 Corel dishes for me (normally $30). I was saving so much money on everything else...how could I not? They were such a great deal!! Tried to admatch a present for Maxine from a Target ad but it didn't work out. So I ended up paying full price for Max's gift instead of saving $11. So I checked out after waiting in line for 20 minutes (not too bad) and waited for Amy. She got stuck in a slow line after we were separated in the madness. I called her to talk while she waited in line. Asked her if she got everything she wanted. She said, "I got some stuff but I'm going to Old Navy after this and then to Target at 4 a.m!"

Now I was torn. The gift I wanted for Maxine was at Target and I could save $11 instead of paying the full price. So after talking with Amy on the phone for a few more minutes, I decided to stay up all night and go with her to Target. I drove home, hid all the loot from Wal-Mart and waited for Amy to come get me.

We went to Old Navy, she picked out some stuff and we waited in line to check out for a solid 45 minutes to an hour.

Then on to Target. We got there a little after 3 a.m. and got in the back of a HUGE line!! We were all the way down by Lowe's (if you live in my area, you know how far away that is from Target.) My hopes of saving $11 for Maxine's gift seemed to be vanishing quickly. We froze our tails off waiting for 45 minutes and chatted with the friendly people waiting in line. Then the doors opened and we started to move. As the line started to move Amy said, "When we get in there, it's every man for himself." I totally agreed to split up and find her later. We got to the doors and I sprinted to Maxine's gift. That's me:


Okay, so that's not really me but you get the idea! Look how happy everyone is, maybe except for that Target employee on the left. When I got to the gift area for Maxine, there were tons left and I grabbed it! YEAH! Ran through the store and grabbed another gift for Jack, saving $15, and a $3 DVD of the movie ELF, also for me.

Then I went to go find the end of the checkout line. Yikes. It was around the back of the store.

(Pardon the stock photos, I left my camera at home.) Called Amy, she got what she wanted and was still browsing. I told her where I was and saved her a spot. She showed up a bit later with a cart full of stuff. We chatted for probably an hour and a half waiting to checkout, during which I had to run back to the food area of Target and grab a bag of pretzels and a lemonade to eat while I waited. I was starving and it was 5 a.m. by then! I hadn't accounted for the enormous appetite all the shopping would bring on!

So we stayed up late, giggled and saved some cash. She dropped me off around 6:30 a.m. I hid more presents. Then as I was about to get ready for bed, I kept thinking of an electronic item I'd seen in the Wal-Mart ad for way cheap!! I've wanted one for several years but they've always been too much money. I had $50 of my own money, not Christmas money, in my wallet and the item cost $49. Wal-Mart's electronics had gone on sale at 5 a.m. What were the odds that one was still left? So I decided I wouldn't be able to sleep until I checked. I drove back to Wal-Mart and asked if they had any left. The Wal-Mart employee radioed another employee and she said there were 3! I RAN to the back of the store and grabbed one! I'm going to wrap it and put it under the tree to give to the family but the tag should really say To: Jamie From: Jamie.

The store was empty and I walked to the front, checked out and was home by 6:45 a.m. I changed into pajamas, talked to Merril for a minute and then passed out.

Conclusion: I thought it was super fun, especially with a pal (THANK YOU AMY!!) and would totally do it again. Except next year I might just go and sell hot chocolate at 3 a.m. in front of Target. I could've made a killing. :) Merry Christmas!

UPDATE: After talking to some Black Friday pros, I was told that it's against the rules to run in the store, for the obvious reason of someone getting trampled. I feel like a total bonehead! No wonder no one else was running! They all knew better. I didn't. I apologize for running.