For most, Christmas time means awkward family gatherings, cheery Santa Clauses on every storefront, houses glowing like the North Pole on every block, horrible Christmas music blaring in every shopping center and no parking at the mall.
For me Christmas time is also synonymous with Black Friday. The day after Thanksgiving, the day that the Christmas holiday season officially starts, and the day that I wake up early and go shopping for ME!
That’s right; I don’t fight those crowds for anyone but myself!
Every year after Thanksgiving dinner I grab the local newspaper, skip the headlines and head strait to the ads in the middle, spreading them out on the floor so I can see every front page and door-buster deal.
I meticulously plot my plan of attack, comparing and contrasting my want for particular items with the probability of long lines, cutthroat shoppers and whether saving $2 is really worth it or not.
On my wish list this season: a new laptop, a practical need/want for school, a new printer, it is now cheaper to buy a new printer every year then buy new ink cartridges for my old one, and a kindle, just because I want one.
This year, for the love of consumerism, the sales started earlier. Thursday Thanksgiving Shopping! I was able to lock-in my desired 4-in-1 printer with one click of my mouse for $50 and free shipping before even carving the turkey.
One down, two more to go.
5 a.m. Friday morning came a little too quickly after two turkey dinners and a late night celebrating the holiday with friends, so hitting the snooze was a no-brainer.
Unfortunately I snoozed a little too long and missed a whole of hour door-busting deals. Fortunately my first, and thankfully only stop this year, was the Office Max just a few blocks away.
The huddled line of people in front of the store stretched about 10 feet from the door. What?! Only six people braved this cold and quiet area of Midtown?
After a quick 30 minute wait in the wintry morning air, I was in and out with my new Toshiba Satellite 4G laptop for $430.
Regrettably I may have done my homework on the best place to buy a laptop but I did not do such extensive research on the laptop I was purchasing. Within an hour of ripping open the package and plugging in my new computer, I realized this is not the computer for me.
My frugality got the best of me.
The graphics were sub par, the cooling fan made noise and the sound quality was like listening through a tin can.
So with receipt in hand, I returned my first Black Friday Failure for a mere $60 restocking fee the next day.
Thank God, actually thank little baby Jesus, for Cyber Monday sales; I was able to procure a better computer for less online from bestbuy.com.And with only 24 shopping days till Christmas I am still actively searching for a good deal on a Kindle. Merry Christmas to me!
Not to worry, contrary to how this blog sounds I am really only selfish one weekend a year. I do still buy presents for family and friends, donate to charities and volunteer at shelters.
This is a clever line:
ReplyDelete"Thank God, actually thank little baby Jesus, for Cyber Monday sales; I was able to procure a better computer for less online from bestbuy.com."
And overall, a nicely written column that isn't as self-absorbed as the writer hints at.
Instead, the reader comes away with the impression of a very smart shopper, who understands how to work the angles around this wild shopping time.
And if her experience with the laptop is any indication, she might reconsider that Kindle purchase...
Once again...I feel as if I was right along with you during your shopping excursion! Kudos.
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