Black Friday, Next Friday

The biggest shopping day of the year is just around the corner. I'm so excited! Thanks to the internet, we no longer have to wait for the Thanksgiving paper to see and plan our shopping ventures. Nowadays, all the print ads are leaked online weeks in advance. There are a bunch of different Black Friday websites, but this one, tgiblackfriday.com is my favorite. It's simple and categorizes all the items. So for instance you're shopping for a new digital camera, you click under "Electronics" and then "Digital Camera" and it will list all cameras from all the stores. Super convenient for price comparison, and sure beats getting your fingers dirty flipping through newspapers.

Many of these early-bird bargain items will be on limited supply, so you may need to show up at 5 a.m. depending on how bad you want it. I have these 3 wonderful friends that split up and hit ALL the stores at the crack of dawn every year. Armed with a fully-charged cell phone, they're able to snag all the deals for everyone. What a great plan! I'm gonna have to invite myself into their little club (or at least have their phone numbers handy–heehee).

Another option is on Thanksgiving day (Black Thursday), some stores (Staples, Circuit City, BestBuy) will let you order the deals online. This may exclude "doorbuster" items and shipping may apply, but it's a good alternative in case you eat too much Thursday and can't get up Friday. Here is a handy Black Friday calendar for when the ads are officially released.

Nintendo Wii for $79?
This year Amazon is again having a special "Customer Vote" promotion. You vote on an item. If the item wins, you MAY get offered to purchase it at a ridiculously low price. This year there are 6 rounds of voting and they're selling a Wii for $79 to 1000 lucky voters. (Disclaimer: If any of you win instead of me, you'll be obligated to buy it for me :0) The rules are listed. Good luck to you (and me).

Stan's Top 10 Bargains:

1. KB Toys: All video games, Buy One Get One Free (4 games max.)
2. KB Toys: Free $10 Bonus Buck for $50 spent
3. Staples: Maxtor 500gb External Hard Drive $79
4. BestBuy: Envision 22" LCD Monitor with Speakers $149.
5. BestBuy: Envision 19" LCD Monitor $99
6. BestBuy: TomTom One GPS $119.99 (also at Staples For $124 + $20GC)
   
7. BestBuy: Dynex 100-pack DVD-R $6.99
8. Circuit City: Logitech Quickcam Pro 5000 $9.99 (after $30 rebate)
9. Babies R Us: Value Pack Diapers $10
10. Sears: Nikon D40 DSLR $449