After Thanksgiving Shopping Mania ......

I'm addicted to plants and clutter of all kinds, but I'm proud to say I resisted and didn't go shopping today.

Instead I decided to get up at 4 AM grab a cup of coffee, open my closet, pull aside the hanging clothes and look at the stacks of prior Shopping Mania purchases. Oh yes the $29 toasters for $6, but no one on my gift list to give them to. After almost pleading the paperman finally said maybe just one. I could tell he wanted my continued business.

I calculate I saved an easy $300, but gosh now I realize just how bad I missed that "rush".

Judy

Ummm, Judy, are they big enough to hold bagels? And the oversized pieces of bread?
The one that i have hold just the standard piece of bread and it aint no fun when you get a half toasted piece of bread : )!!!

edited cuz i really do know your name, lol

This message was edited Nov 26, 2004 8:07 AM

I avoid the stores like the Plague this weekend....worked in a mall as a teenager, and won't even think of venturing out right now.

My sis, on the other hand....gets up at 4:30 am and gets in line for whatever snow globe....candle...ink pens...or whatever they are giving away to the first 100 shoppers....she loves it....I sleep.

my dh was up and off at 5:45 i kept sleeping.
and when he got back i was still sleeping and kept sleeping!!! ;)

Nothing is worth getting up and going out there with all the crazy people!!
ok maybe if mellencamp was signing autographs!

I cannot imagine joining that crush of shoppers. One year I had an appointment just past the mall/shopping centers. Took me over an hour to go half a mile in all that traffic.

I "shop" for gifts all year long, buying when and where I find something appropriate and on sale. Saves lots of wear and tear on this ole bod, and my nerves.

I have all the shop I need setting right here in my lap. May still seek out a few goodies if I spy them later today. This is usually JoAnn Fabric's 1/2 price on notions day, but I have no flyer saying that this year. Sewing is my other passion.

Sugarweed - "I have all the shop I need setting right here in my lap."
What's sitting in your lap???

Gosh why don't you start a thread asking people what they are sewing up for Christmas presents!!! I think it would be most interesting. Don't anyone throw pincushions at me, but in our family it's BigDaddy99, my DH, who does the sewing!! My dear SD loves to tell stories about she & her Daddy making Barbie clothes!!

My Laptop! LOL

I'm so far behind on everything, I'm not sewing this year. I have done everything on the machine many years past.

I think thats great Big Daddy does the stitching. Have I seen him on simply quilts?

After all I weld, use oxy/acetelyne tourches, and have operated hydrolic cranes up to 65tons.

Have him start that thread.

He/She who dies with the most fabric wins. I'm 1,000+ yards and counting. When I didn't have a place to "grow", I always had a place to sew.

Judy, must be her laptop, LOL.

My mother was a dressmaker and made all my clothes (even my business suits later on) so I never learned how to sew. Oh, I can do a few things if I really HAVE to but it dosn't interest me much. But I DID learn to appreciate fine cloth and good workmanship.

Laptop!!! lol lol I could just imagine a child or puppy ... that had used up all your "Christmas" money. Goes to show we all relate according to our own experiences. BigDaddy isn't "into quilts" so I don't think you would have seen him posting here... but one never knows!! lol lol

Darius I think it is wonderful that your Mother made your clothes. My aunts made mine when I was younger and then as an adult I had to have many things altered because I'm not the "average" size!! I just do not have the patience to sow!!!

Judy, have to tease you a bit for your typo... Yes, you DO "sow" (seeds) you just do not "sew" fabrics. LOL.

Mother (or someone) HAD to make my business clothing as I'm not an average size either... broad shoulders and no fanny, not much hips. It'a all now in my spare tire around the waist.

Lol lol Darius that was such a funny "turn of phrase"!!!!

Doesn't it make us realize just how GRAND life is, when we can laugh out loud, even if it's at ourselves!!! Maybe that should be, especially if it's at ourselves!!!

Oh, oh ... just think of all the people who are out shopping and getting GROUCHY!!!

Not me, I'm getting ready to make biscotti!

Now Darius you know I want your recipe .... but if it's a secret I surely can respect that, 'cause I have a few of those myself!!! lol lol

Judy

Oops, I just remembered you sell yours online...
so please forget the request for the recipe.


This message was edited Nov 26, 2004 11:10 AM

I had to get up at 4am and be at work by 5:30. After seeing how some of those people act, I have no desire to set foot in a store! Well, I do go into the store I work at four days a week but that is different. THEY PAY ME! LOL

My daughters work at Walmart. They tell me people shove them aside as they try to restock the toy shelves with "specials" and dig right into the stocking boxes! I'm sooo glad I don't have to shop for toys anymore....

I've really scaled down my Christmas giving by giving more during the year instead. My sisters, brothers, neices, nephews & their kids have grown to an enormous group. I'd hate to even think of trying to shop for them all...

I do have to go to the grocery store today, but that won't be as bad.

I've found that with several stores you can also get the same discounts/sale prices if you order online during the advertised times during today's sales. Last year I bought my DH a tool cabinet online that was on sale, received the same extra 10% early bird price off, as well as a rebate for free shipping.

My only problem was that when the UPS guy delivered the tool chests my DH was also home from work. The UPS guy told him "It looks like you are going to have a good Christmas this year!" and my DH then helped him carry the clearly labeled cartons!

Two things I noticed. First, the flyer from a home improvement store, we shop at all the time, had regular prices, but said they were only good for Friday, Sat., & Sun.! The things they had in the flyer were nothing I would ever buy. Most people would have no use for the stuff!
Second, numereous stores around here were open on Thanksgiving day, so now what's the big deal about Friday?
One news reporter interviewed a couple of people being the first into a Kohls at 6AM. He was amazed they left 10 minutes later with no purchases.
Fun & Games!
Bernie

Walmart knocked the price of their older DVDs from $6.99 to $3.88 from 6 am to 10 amGood titles for a home film library: "You Got Mail", Quigley Down Under, Nine to Five, Cats & Dogs, Eraser etc. Not a bad price for inexpensive gifts. Lizzie said their "door buster' toy prices were about 1/2 their normal prices. They had DVD players for $60. Stuff like that.

I didn't see much different in Kohls ads. They had 1/2 price on the whole store--but that's about every day and cardholders had an extra 20% off the 1/2 price all last week.

On the otherhand, the grocery store was almost empty. Everyone must be eating left overs this weekend! :)

By the attitudes that i got from customers that came in for lunch today, the sales must have been worthless, sold out or a crock.
I've never (in my 7 years there) had such a miserable group of people. You could just see the looks on their faces...ggrrrr.... that made me think "yeah right, this is going to be fun".
And the stiffs, omg...going over Christmas lists and counting money at the table. Running me ragged, but Oops, dont have enough to tip/forgot to tip. How do some people think we buy Christmas presents? or make car notes and mortgage payments? Oh, nevermind, dont get me started, lol.
jen

I cleaned house no shopping for me this time of year thats what to do when its to hot to work in garden days in summer are for ,Go shop in ice cold mall

Wellll, I finally got out about 5. Garden Ridge had hand pieced quilts for $16., so I got 2 to cut up for winter cortains in the living room. I have heirloom quilts that I protect and cherish, but those from China I cut without shame. Its sad when we turn to Asia to duplicate the beautiful treasures our mothers and grandmothers worked so tirelessly at.
Crused to Joanns and they have all notions on 1/2 price, so I bought a package of every kind of needle threader they make. Trying to take the luck out of hitting the eye. Didn't look at even one piece of fabric, not one.

Hey Jen, if I ever pass through Gulfport, I will stop by. I love to tip if the service warrents it. Very seldom it doesn't. I don't know why people expect wait people to work for nothing.
My wife worked as a waitress for years, she had same kind of experiences.
Have a great day!
Bernie

Jen, some people, if your a waitress this is one of the times you wish you could afford it to take off. They will losen up around Christmas. Money is very tight for a lot of people this year. I can only send good wishes to most this year. I hope people loosen up for you. I've been there too.

Bernie,
Lol, and thanks, i kinda think its off the beaten path from Mn, tho, rigth? : )~

Dont get me wrong, i made outstanding money yest. I think the thing that bothered me the most was the attitude. This one lady in particular came in and you could see attitude all over her face. Got her seated, got her drink, and it went downhill from there. There was no pleasing her.

I had a hard day. Worked my tail off, stayed 3 hrs past my shift cleaning up, walked out with a chucka change and now i'm off the weekend. I bet somewhere in the mean peoples world, they are still mad and angry.

I really try not to let negative people get me down. VERY seldom will a customer get me to the point that I cant function.

The thing i dont understand, and never have, is why people insist on going places when they are in a bad mood....for the love of God, stay home or go to a drive-thru, dont try to bring me down with you.
Jen

We had to stop a couple of places yesterday, for everyday things, not junk.
They were starting in the parking lots! Trying to run one another down for a place near the door. We were sitting in our truck eating our Mac's, in Sams Club lot. There was a empty space right in front of us. Maybe 8 spaces from the door. This fat lady drove by, looked at the space, drove on. We wondered why she didn't park there. Next thing she was walking by, she had to park on the far end of the lot!
We have a very large mall here, Targot, Herbergers, Sears, J.C. Penny, are the anchors. We drove by, there were so many cars in there, they were parked in the closed Ground Round lot. This is on an outlot, outside of the road running all around the outside of the mall. A good ¼ mile from the entrance!
All this so everybody can spend there $865.00 on gifts. That was an average according to some news report last night.
Bernie

I'm wondering what sales WERE like across the country? My store had:

under cabinet mount dvd/am/fm radio 28.88
small appliances 2/9.00
xbox w/three dvds 149.99
girls store brand jeans 7.99
Christmas shirts 4.44
jammies for girls 12.89 (normally 17.99)
boys carpenter jeans 7.99
dvd player 28.88
select new release dvds 15.88

A friend that works in Ark for the same store, said they sold 100 of the dvd players in 15 minutes. She was actually up on a ladder just handing them down. They never even made it to the shelves!

On a sad note, another chain store up here had horrible problems. One hot item was a dvd player for 18.88. They had fist fights break out for that one. I also heard that an older woman got knocked down and trampled by all those lovely shoppers and an ambulance had to come for her.

I have to say people were pretty well behaved and calm at our store. There were probably 100 people in line by 5:30 and I don't know how many when we opened at 6:00. We stood back and let them in and it was like the running of the bulls. LOL Well, the bulls had a cart in one hand and Starbuck coffee in the other. Sign of the times.....

One report said up 6% over last year.

And some are saying the economy is bad!

My son hit the sales yest and was estatic that he got a dvd for 28.88 (only at walmart, lol) and a few other things but was rather charged by the negative energy he endured.

I laughed when i got home from work because sitting in my living room was the home theater system for hubby, gifts for the kids and a few other things....love the online click, click, click, lol.....just bummed a missed the UPS man..

LOL Jen. I did shop totally online one year but I think it was much higher but it was a year I bought a lot of Little Tyke big, plastic toy things. It was worth it though, NOT dragging my pregnant self out into the madness.

We do more and more shopping online for the holidays. It's worth it to us saving gasoline prices, crowds, long lines, out-of-stock items, and all the rest. Plus we can find used merchandise (CD's, DVD's etc.) so much easier. I love the click, click, click! Last year, Howie and I gave each other a spending limit for eBay rather than doing a traditional gift exchange -- the gift of shopping on eBay, whee!

The Target's down here had the same deals Badseed, except they had none of the XBOX's listed. Something about never receiving them - grrrr! Walmart still had tons of the $28.88 DVD players when I was there Sunday and Best Buy still had tons of there early morning specials at 10am on Thursday so the people who waited in line wasted time. I am glad we skipped out this year. We did not get out until 7:30. My husband and I did not spend as much money Friday morning this year and this was actually the first year I saw nothing worth waiting in line for at Walmart. Mervyns had some good deals though.

The sales were up 2.9% for the weekend (including Friday), but the gains were not in the discount stores like Walmart, but concentrated in the high end chains like Nordstrom and in other High End purchases.

I witnessed the attitude only in one person luckily. At the first place we went to a lady was getting in her car as we got out. She slammed her door and I could see her mumbling curse words under her breath. Of course the store had been open for 2 hours so we also missed the things we were looking for, but hey that's my fault for not getting up. Then I was at Mervyns going for a register at the same time as someone else. I backed up and let her go because she looked ticked. No thanks or smile, but I recognized the lady - the same person that was mumbling curse words at Radio Shack.

I just read that Walmart is downgrding their sales estimates for November and December.

I didn't go shopping - out of the house anyway.....Love shopping on line....planning on doing most if not all of mine that way again this year. I hardly go "shopping" other than on-line anymore.

Darius....I swear you and are are reincarnated relatives. My mom also was a seamstress and made all my clothes when I was growing up. I think we were sisters in another life.

M.

I got a Wiggles product for our friend's son at Target's website last night-- free shipping plus a 10% off coupon I found at http://currentcodes.com -- ended up costing less than anywhere. Yippee!

You are probably right, Marcia, LOL!

My oldest daughter just wants cash to pay her bills. We pay her college car & medical expenses, but she moved back home to get other bills caught up. I think she ate out alot, bought DVDs, clothes etc and used her credit card when her paycheck didn't stretch. At least she's nicer than she was in high school.

Our younger daughter hasn't decided what she wants yet. Usually one large gift & a couple of small things. Maybe a new guitar or car stereo.

My DH already bought a few things at Gander Mountain for me to wrap up.
And bought a few little things for me.We're getting each other new living room carpet in January.

I'll bake cookies & put together fruitbaskets for my family. I'm SOOO glad I don't have to chase down a favorite toy from Santa anymore! I hate shopping.

We've never been the after Thanksgiving type of shopper, but I have to admit, I have missed having toys under the tree. My kids were never so demanding that we had to have a particular Barbie or whatever, so they were quite happy with whatever they got. Not sure how I managed that one. The only crunch I remember was the first year of the Cabbabe Patch Doll. They did want that, but I found kits and made them.

The last few years I have noticed a trend that whatever the hot ticket item for that Christmas is, someone has some, and is advertising to sell them at double or triple the price. And I've seen ads from parents offering to pay double or triple just to get whatever it is Johnny wants! Geez, what is with that!!

You guys will laugh, but we shop on Christmas Eve. Actually, I shop before that, but DH has always been a Christmas Eve shopper, and years ago he and I started doing that together. I gripe and complain about leaving it to the last minute, but it has become our "thing". The funny thing is, although the crowds are just as bad as day after Thanksgiving crowds, the attitude is different. I have yet to meet a rude person, and most are smiling and considerate. Selection isn't always great, but I don't go home with someone elses black cloud over my head.