For all of you not familiar with me from GS, Brandy's Bargain Bonanza is a feature that I created a couple of years ago to highlight certain times when I go nuts buying a mass amount of electronics at once (videos games, DVD's and whatnot). While I used to shop for these items on a pretty regular basis, certain events have led to a considerable slowing in that respect (hence my not doing a blog such as this until now). However, this is Black Friday, a day which no self-respecting bargain hunter should pass up, so I said to hell with money and ventured into the fray.
After leaving home at 4:45 AM, here is the rundown of my day:
Wal-Mart - Wait time: 63 minutes
You know one of my biggest pet peeves? Watching people go through the "20 items or less" lane with a cart full of crap. Even worse when it's three carts of crap. I know most people would make an excuse about it being Black Friday, so the rules don't apply, but whatever. Unfortunately, I was stuck behind said woman with three carts (actually about 10 people behind her), who insisted on forcing the cashier to price match almost every last item in her cart with ads from other stores, leading to my waiting in line for over an hour. I ended up getting in line with a guy I went to high school with, so I did have something to pass the time, but by the time he and I realized what was happening in front of us, we had already been waiting forever, and moving to another line wasn't an option.
When I finally did get to checkout, I purchased the following DVD's:
Borat Special Edition w/ T-shirt - $2.00
V for Vendetta - $2.00
The Whole Nine Yards - $2.00
TMNT - $2.00 (Gift for nephew, I think; Might decide to keep it for myself... Is it any good?)
Just Friends - $2.00 (Gift for sister)
Pay it Forward - $2.00 (Gift)
Total paid: $12.84 Total savings (over original prices): $50.25
-----
Meijer - Wait time: 0 minutes
You know another one of my pet peeves? Making a special trip to a store only to find out that their ad is wrong and/or misleading, and that I wasted the trip. After seeing something to the extent of "All 9.99 video games half off," I thought that I would take a chance and find a couple of decent PS2 games to add to my collection. Little did I know that the ad failed to mention the fact that you had to buy a certain amount of games before the discount came into effect, and with options like Bratz: Forever Diamonds or Nickelodeon's Unfabulous making up the majority of my choices, there was no way I was buying enough to count... What a waste of 20 minutes.
-----
Target - Wait time: 20 minutes
Target... It's like home really. One sure-fire location where I just know I am going to find something good. After making my way through the toy, video game and electronics departments, I picked up Polar Express, the new Indiana Jones, the new Hulk, a Leapster game, and some pajamas to purchase with my mom's money (all gifts for various family members). As for myself, I picked up a few things (prices look strange because I have included my mom's 10% employee discount in the prices):
Atonement - $5.38 (I adore Keira Knightly and sweeping/epic romances, so this was a win/win)
Office Space Special Edition - $3.58
I should also note that I got two rainchecks (Made of Honor for $8.98, and Pirates 3: At World's End for $5.98), that I may or may not redeem sometime within the next 90 days (depending on how my wallet looks as we get closer and closer to Christmas):
Total paid : $9.59 Total savings (over original prices): $19.06
-----
After getting home, I was a bit annoyed that I didn't find more during my trip, so I headed onto Amazon to see what sorts of deals I could find, and was very pleasantly surprised. So much so that I actually ordered a few things (it's a rarity for me to shop online, let me tell you):
Nintendo Wii Remote Charge Station - $19.95 (not just four rechargable AA batteries but two actual battery packs like you have on cell and cordless phones; had hundreds of reviews with the general consensus being that it's a great unit)
Resident Evil 4 Wii - $9.95
Iron Man DVD - $8.99 (Gift for nephew - was $13 at Target, so I'm glad I waited)
Total paid: $38.89 Total savings: $35.89 (plus another $6.47 saved by getting free shipping)
-----
Total spent on the day: $61.32 Total savings on the day: $105.20
So there you have it. Did any of you journey into the crowds this morning? If so, what did you get?
Say what you want about Nintendo, and how their disappointing E3 press conference sent them down the proverbial gutter in the minds of hardcore fans... They still earn much heart from me. Why?
Not just any Wii - My Wii, for free (hey, that rhymes).
As I promised some days ago, this blog marks my re-posting of all of my Black Friday shopping tips, as I know there are a few people here that didn't follow me on GS (you are forgiven, hehe), and they were so well liked over there that I figured it only right to post them again, albeit in a trimmed down version (yes, it's still a wall of text, but believe me, it IS shorter; for the full version, in all of its pink text glory: clicky). Also, I am posting them a bit earlier than last year, as I am pretty busy with my backlog of games, plus the fact that I am going to miss out on a couple of days of work time for the holiday itself, so wanted to post these while I still had some free time. That being said, here we go:
Tip #1 - PLAN AHEAD, and no I'm not talking about briefly glancing through a few ads looking for one particular item. I mean take a substantial amount of time away from the turkey and football on Thanksgiving to run down to the nearest gas station and buy Thursday's paper. I personally prefer the pen and paper method over any Black Friday website I may come across, simply because looking at ads guarantees the information to be accurate. OR, if you happen to know that a particular store price matches other stores' ads, you can take said ad into the store and make them honor it.
That being said, sit down with your ads and a pad of paper (if you've got your families wishlists or something similar handy that's even better), and go through them one by one. Even if you don't think the ad might contain something you are interested in, look at it anyway. A random gift idea might pop out at you that you hadn't thought about before. Write down each store's name on the list and underneath any good deals you even think you might be interested in purchasing. Notice I said to write down even the ones you're on the fence about, and I'll explain why. A short explanation is that this isn't a shopping list you're creating, but rather a "use stores against each other" list. I'll explain further...
If you're like me, and are picky about where you spend your money, or just have a limited supply of it, you might look at, say, Target's ad and see "such and such" item for a really good price. Now, it might not be cheap enough for you to spend your hard earned dollars on it, but it's a good deal nonetheless. Write it down. Let's say ten minutes later you're looking at CircuitCity's ad and WHAM! There the item is again - only this time it's $15 cheaper (or more expensive, if you prefer). Instead of wasting time thinking "where did I see one of those before" and digging through all of your ads, causing unneeded frustration for yourself, you can simply look up a few lines on your list to see which store had it, and for what price.
After going through the dozens of ads that any one city might have available, you might just find out that the deal at Target was a lot better than you originally thought, and that it would be worth your money and time in line to buy it.
-----
Tip #2 - CREATE A STORE SHOPPING ORDER, based on something other than location from your house. For example, my house is within walking distance from Target, but it is never my first stop on Black Friday. Why? Well, let me explain...With stores like Target, that carry a more diversified set of products, you can expect the crowds to also be more diversified, and be more composed of the elderly, and middle aged individuals looking for home décor, clothing, etc. In other words, they are there for more than just DVD's and video games, which is what I'm expecting most of you will be interested in (at least, if you're anything like me).
That being said, since electronics are one of the most sought after Christmas gifts, and since the department, as a whole, is one of the biggest moneymakers when it comes to teenagers and college kids, you can expect stores that cater specifically to them to be filled to the brim with such individuals. To be more specific, these stores will be filled with people who are younger and therefore willing to get up earlier in the morning to find cheap crap.
The bottom line then, is that (from my past experience, year after year), Best Buy and CircuitCity (and stores just like them) fill up far faster than places like Target and Wal-Mart. I'm sure this also has something to do with the limited quantities of items that can be held in these smaller stores, but for the most part, my tip holds true.
-----
Tip #3 - RAINCHECKS ARE GOOD, especially when a store isn't really supposed to be giving them out. This tip is more of a general bargain hunting one, rather than something specific to Black Friday, but it applies here as well. While most stores have print in their ads that talk about the lack of rainchecks on most of their fabulous sales, you'd be surprised how many idiots will completely disregard that and give you one anyway. While you may feel a bit sheepish for asking, if they do mention the fact that it's written in the ad, if you happen to find someone who's new to the store, or who just isn't paying attention, you'll be thanking yourself for the money you saved later. For a specific example, last year I picked up four or five movies for my niece and nephew on rainchecks from Best Buy even though they specifically said they weren't offering any. I saved at least half off the regular price.
-----
Tip #4 - CASH IS YOUR FRIEND, especially when you're like me and are on a budget this holiday season. While debit and credit may be a lot more convenient (and probably safer) than carrying around a wad of cash, I also know for a fact (not from personal experience, but a close friend of mine) how easy it can be to overdraw yourself on all of the great sales you're bound to run into. By only paying in cash, you are keeping yourself to the mental limit that you probably set for yourself (or should set for yourself - another tip right there) in the first place. Once you run out of cash, that's it.
This is especially helpful if you are like me, and get into the heat of the moment with items that you could probably do without. "But the deal just looks so good - I have to have it!" Trust me, it's an easy mindset to slip into, especially when there are so many people around who all seem to have more money than you, plus the fact that you've probably been irritated by more than a few of them by this point, as lets face it, everyone behaves as their worst selves on Black Friday, and you just want to get out of whatever store you are in, so you grab the thing and head for the check out. But, if you only have a certain amount of cash with you, an exorbitant purchase will be avoided (that is, unless you're carrying a couple grand around in your pockets, but that's not something I would advise).
-----
Another small tip that's new for this year is concerning something that I have only recently begun to pick up on, and that's that shoppers are lazy bastards who leave things where they're not supposed to be, and that store employees such at zoning. To make this into an actual tip, rather than a simple observation, I would say take the long way around to the checkout counter while you're shopping this year, as, by going down some of less crowded aisles, you may find a DVD or a game that is no longer available in the electronics department, that someone has thrown to the side after deciding they no longer wanted it, but were too lazy to walk back and put it where it belongs.
If you are one of the ones who plans on heading out on Black Friday - I wish you the best of luck. Hopefully it will be a worthwhile experience for all of us.
"Ya'lls"... great word usage, I know. :-P But yes, advice... I need some. But first, a little background information from me to you - I have a niece. She's nine, and (due to her mother's lack of disciplinary skills) is one of the most irresponsible people on this planet. Granted, nine year olds shouldn't be tasked with maintaining a household or fixing a car or something, but with simple tasks like putting a toy away when you're done with it, or NOT losing half the pieces to a puzzle you just opened five minutes ago - I don't think that's too much to ask. So, as I was saying...Irresponsible. Breaks things.
I'll give you a for instance. She got an MP3 player for her birthday (why a nine year old needs an MP3 player is beyond me, but there will be more of that nonsensical business in a bit). Had it for a matter of days. Broke it. While that shouldn't matter to me, as I was NOT the one that purchased it (hell, I predicted she'd break it before it was even purchased), I WAS the one who had to spend hours putting songs onto the thing in the first place, since my sister is computer illiterate. So, she breaks it, and my sister GETS HER ANOTHER ONE... Round 2 - Another few hours of my life wasted adding songs to the replacement.
Now, my sister says that she's going to buy her a DS. Where purchasing a $19.99 MP3 player (it was on sale) is something I could look past - spending $129 on a DS is something I can not. Not when she IS going to break the thing within a matter of weeks... I would bet you money on that fact right now.
See, I'm good at predicting such things. Another for instance. When my nephew was three, I predicted that he would end up in a load of trouble his first week into kindergarten cause he's not made to behave at home, so why would he around other kids? Three days into the week, my sister gives me the news. Should've bet money on that one.
But back to the matter at hand. Finances. To put it bluntly, my sister is worse off financially than my mother and I are (and that's saying something), so she really doesn't need to waste the money on something that will be trashed so quickly.
So, there ya go. I've tried convincing her that a DS is a bad purchase - that my niece will either lose the stylus, snap the two screens apart or scratch the screen by using a real pen thinking that it's a good alternative to the stylus she just lost. Either that, or my five year old nephew (cute kid when he wants to be, but causes severe migraines when I am with him for extended amounts of time... cause, you know... I'm the only one who actually disiplines the kid) will get ahold of it and feed it to the dog or something. Drop it in the tub like a boat. Shove it in the fireplace to watch it burn. You get the idea.
I've even tried the whole "Get a GBA, it's cheaper and more durable" line, but that seems to have failed. What to do, what to do... Maybe I should just stop caring about my sister's lack of funds and laugh when I'm right... But before I go that far... Got any ideas?
That's right folks - two weeks until Black Friday '08. There have been some interesting developments in the leaked Black Friday ads - most notably the leak of Best Buy's ad, which I just finished looking at (for all those that look at it - skip the page that has everything listed and go straight to the scan of the ad, since the typed list is lacking a lot of items). Some noteworthy items: Saint's Row for $9.99, a $14.99 DDR game w/ the mat included, Bioshock (PC) and Assassin's Creed (PC) for $9.99 each, and a bunch of TV shows seasons for $14.99 a piece (can't tell what all of them are since there was heavy use of flash when the pictures were taken). Until I can take a look at every store's ad, I'm not going to make a decision about going to Best Buy just yet, but at any rate, check out the ad for yourself and begin making your list of must buys for Black Friday 2008.
Have been busy over the past few days writing a ton of reviews for the next GrrlGamer update. Have written six so far, with at least one more that I know I will get done before the update. And while seven reviews (in total) may be a lot, that'll still leave me with three games in my queue and at least seven in the mail (to be received at various times over the next few weeks).
In addition to playing games, I've been talking to a few people (with varying levels of connections within the industry) about whether or not I should take the plunge into the next-gen of gaming, and / or whether I could receive any help in doing so (cryptic, I know, but that's all I can say for now). Mainly, again for reasons that I can't get into, I'm looking specifically at the PS3 and Wii sides of the spectrum.
One thing that I can say is that if I do end up getting a PS3 sooner rather than later, I will definitely be looking into Mirror's Edge. I read the GB review, among a few others, and even though the game is mainly considered to be mediocre, there is just something about it that has drawn me in (ever since E3). Everything from the game's theme song, Lisa Miskovsky's "Still Alive" (which has been blaring through my computer speakers repeatedly all day), to the various online trailers, TV commercials, screenshots and so on - I have absolutely no idea how it has done it or even why I am so intrigued by it, but I have not wanted to play a game THIS bad in a very very long time. Damn it all for not having the friggin' console to do so.
At any rate, I'll be posting some of my old Black Friday tips within the coming days, in order to help you all prepare for war on the 28th, so until then!
Guides
