Gold Saturday

I love going through the Sunday ads and finding deals. I'm usually very excited to go through the Black Friday ads. It first happened last year and was very noticeable this year that my excitement has deteriorated. For starters, I am trying to live as the economy reflects. Secondly, the Internet has shown previews of all the ads days before they arrive so I don't have the rush of anticipation anymore. Finally, all the extreme couponing shows and blogs make getting anything less than 95% off seem like a bummer.

Still, I got caught up in the frenzy and wanted to bolt out and get my shopping done early. I'm happy to report that I successfully fought that desire and instead stayed away from the stores where people were robbed at gun point and pepper sprayed because they were in the way of someone who wanted a cheap Xbox. 

Here's my advice for you guys. Go through the ads, see what's worth getting, check online for similar products and if you find them and can get free shipping, get it. I found deals at Best Buy, I checked Amazon, they had the price very close to if not equal, I got them, the end. I'm mainly pissed that this is what Adam Carolla says about your time being valuable, and I didn't click through his website to Amazon before making my purchase to support the show. I suck as a loyal listener.

But back to Black Friday. As it turns out there was only one thing I wanted to buy in all the ads I saw that I couldn't get online and I was smart and calm enough to realize that the sale was good until Saturday, and there was a coupon to use for 20% instead of the Black Friday 30%. After all that is said and done, I went Saturday, avoided the lines and got an extra errand done on Saturday instead and the only difference in savings for waiting a day was $2.50. Yep, the time saved is definitely worth the money I spent.

So what did I learn? I have to use this brain of mine to get great deals, but sometimes it's worth it to let them go, get a good deal, and save three hours of my life. Try it some time.