Share your Black Friday&Cyber Monday Tips

[DrPizza]

I remember as a kid, I used to see a lot of thanksgiving decorations, lots of pioneer and indian related stories and imagery and shows on tv relating to the holiday, butchers advertising fresh turkey. Now I'm lucky if I can find a sale on frozen turkeys
The whole holiday feels mostly empty but then again it's not really something companies can milk the cash cow outside of specific food companies and groceries so it seems corporate america dictates what a holiday is.

Local grocery store has them on sale for about 30 cents a pound, as long as you have a $50 purchase. Personally, I'll be eating a freshly killed turkey on Thanksgiving Day, but I'll probably pick up a few of those cheap turkeys (butterball, maybe?) for future dinners for me and the wife. A 20 pound turkey is only around $6. That's a nice dinner, plus save a few chunks for either sandwiches one day, or turkey pot pie, or something, and toss the remaining 15 pounds of turkey onto the porch for the outside cats to eat. 30 cents a pound?? Way the heck cheaper than cat food.

 

[shortylickens]

Stay home.

Its not worth your life.

 

[OILFIELDTRASH]

It's likely whatever you buy will be a complete waste of money. If you needed it or wanted it very badly you'd already have it. Is saving 40% on something that you don't need really a good deal?

 

[Doppel]

I do amazon, and a relaxed mid morning trip to some of the big box. I miss out on the loss leaders but I can normally get something not bad. Hell last year I got a couple of jenga games for $8, for example--make for good Xmas gifts. Walmart will typically have things like big discounts on an external hard drive still available well into the day.

 

[FeuerFrei]

Monitor prices a month or so before BF so you'll know a good deal when you see one. That knife or software you want might have sold for significantly less back in October.

Remember a promotion is a promotion. You aren't necessarily saving anything, and in fact you may be paying more. Only way to know for sure is price-track your desired items weeks in advance so you know what they typically sell for.

If course that's not possible holiday blitz merchandise special-ordered by stores and reserved for BF sales.

 

[nwo]

I just built a new i7 haswell rig about a month and a half ago, but I did it slowly over 2 months. I doubt I would have saved that much more if I had waited for BF or CM. I did hold off on a GPU for BF/CM, so I'm hoping to find something in a great price point.

I doubt any retailer will be able to beat these two GPU deals on especially if you have to pay sales tax and waste your life away waiting in line.

 

[Pariah]

If you have a Discover Card, you are all set. Find what you want before Black Friday. Buy the item at regular price, then file a price protection claim with Discover. Other credit cards have price protection, but it seems that Discover is the only one that not only covers Black Friday, but even the "door buster" deals as well. The only catch is that you have to pay full price up front and wait for your check. Totally worth it IMO though.