Turkey Day

Bunny Twin, Big Girl and Buddy Twin on Thanksgiving Day!

My Thanksgiving was very nice -- very "mellow," and the kids were relatively good. They had visits with other little ones, and kept busy. By nightfall, they were tired and ready for bed!

And I decided to brave the pre-Black Friday shopping deals. Our local Target was opening at 9 p.m., and they had a few things I had on my list at really great prices. I checked to see if I could get the items online, but only one was available, so at about 8:30 p.m., I said goodnight to Big Girl and hubby and headed over to Target. I found a friend and stood in the very, very, very long line that wrapped around the back of the store building, but it moved relatively fast. And I was able to get in the store and start shopping.

The line at Target, about halfway there...

I am not a seasoned Black Friday shopper. I think last year was the first year I ever went out, and I went out an hour after the store opened because I am just not a good early riser. I actually didn't mind heading out on
Thanksgiving night to shop; I'd rather do that and come home to bed.

There were so many people complaining on Facebook about how horrible it was that the stores were open and people were shopping. As far as I was concerned, opening at 9 p.m. on Thanksgiving isn't so bad. I don't think stores should be open all day, but at night? I'm sure there might have been some employees grateful to get the extra shift. And some people are likely just grateful to have a job. As someone who worked many, many holidays, it's just a fact of some forms of employment: the media, police and fire, healthcare workers, move theater workers, gas station attendants, etc. You just kind of accept that it's part of the agenda.

All of the Target employees -- and I sincerely mean all of them -- seemed happy to be there, were joking and pleasant, and the managers were walking around and making sure people got breaks or had help. I saw a giant load of pizzas being delivered in a side door when I left, which I'm assuming were for all the hard working Target people

As for my shopping? It was a success. I got everything I needed except for one thing, and saved almost 38 percent off my bill between sales, coupons and a Red Card discount.

Ironically, the one thing I was not able to get was purchased the next day: Couponing to Disney posted an Amazon.com deal for it that saved me $15 off the price I would have paid at Target the night before. It was a win-win Black Friday for me.

My Christmas list is definitely dwindling; I am basically done with my immediate family. I have little things to pick up here and there in the next month, and I will do it as the money comes in. I am trying to avoid charging anything this year, and I have been pretty good about it. I think I've only put $20 on a credit card since I've started shopping. I'm going to try and keep it that way!