Tales from Black Friday & Weekly Round-up!

I didn't do a drugstore deals this past week because in my humble opinion there really wasn't much to write about unfortunately.

Our family had a wonderful Thanksgiving together and both Jon & I experienced the horror/wonder/craziness of a Black Friday morning spent shopping! We went to bed around 11 on Thanksgiving night after I combed through deals to find those worth waking up early for- I wound up tossing & turning & strategizing til before I knew it our alarm was sounding off at 2:30 am. Why so early? Because I thought I could get our kiddos a free Lego Rock Band game if I made it to Old Navy by their opening time of 3 AM.

Of course, when I got there I discovered they only had 20 of these available and you had to be the first 20 in line (identified by a wristband they gave out). I still wound up spending $20 on some cute shirts for the girls and then off I went to SuperTarget for the TV hubby and I had been eyeing - a nifty 32" HDTV number and a Casio keyboard for the kiddos. When I got there, there were about 20 or so folks ahead of me in line. It was chilly so I was thanking my lucky stars Jon handed me a knit cap before leaving. I chatted up with the woman in front of me and the woman behind me who had come with her Dad. Both were there primarily for the TV- the woman ahead of me had been told by a cashier the day before Thanksgiving that they would have 44 of these in stock. Given the number of folks ahead of us, we felt confident we would all get what we came for!

This was before the line ahead of us grew from about 20 to what seemed like 50...even though there were grocery carts strategically placed in front of the store, people came ahead of us joining other folks they knew in line. Suddenly, odds weren't looking so good. When a security guard handed out maps at 4:30, we huddled together and strategized about the best route to take to get to the TVs which were located, oddly enough, in the menswear section. As the clock ticked ever closer to 5 am opening, I began jumping up and down to keep warm, another woman pretended to be warming up boxer style while another man in line started loudly humming the theme to Chariots of Fire. It was all quite comical.

Throwing all shame to the wind, I went in a full-out sprint as soon as I got inside the store. I left very happy - successfully getting all 5 items I came in for. While I was waiting in line in the wee small hours of the morning, Jon was buying a few other items off our wishlist online. When I got back home, he then went out to do shopping at Office Max, Lowe's, Home Depot and Ace. He was particularly thrilled with a cute playtent he found for Stella and quickly assembled it and began playing with her in it that morning.

My proudest find of Black Friday: a Garmin Nuvi GPS for $37 after a $25 off $75 discount card and using my $27 worth of Office Max rewards. How'd you do on Black Friday? Did you brave the crowds?

And now on to Weekly grocery deals...

Food Lion

Food Lion is having a three day sale on Huggies that will be a great deal after coupons. You can also score a 3 lb. box of Clementines (yum!) for $2.49 after store coupon. Read all about it here on southernsavers' match-ups page.

Harris Teeter

Alas, no super doubles or triples yet again! But still some good finds on boneless/skinless chicken, berries, water and bread (Nature's Pride is 24 cents a loaf after internet q!). If you're an E-Vic member, you may also score a free box of brown rice (check your registered VIC email for details). Read all about the deals here on southernsavers' match-ups page.

Kroger

Big deal this week is a one day sale TOMORROW that means 50% off on Kellogg's cereal, bars, Keebler or Sunshine cookies or crackers and Kashi cereal. With coupons this can mean BIG savings on these items. If you still have any $2/1 Healthy Choice printables from their website, you can get these frozen meals for free or 20 cents each depending on your region. Other freebies include Tony's Pizza, Annie's pasta & cheese and Pillsbury crescent rolls. Click here for all the juicy details on southernsavers' match-ups page.

Lowe's Foods

More cheap boneless/skinless chicken breast to be had here- $1.49/lb! You can also get 80% ground beef for this price - not lean enough for our taste, but still a great deal if you're not picky about the fat percentages of your beef. Various other deals to be had- including dirt cheap Kellogg's Rice Krispies if you have the internet coupon from there site. Click here for HCW's match-ups thread. I haven't yet figured out who has the truly better deal on chicken between HT and Lowe's- HT is offering B1G2 free on the chicken. I'll try to determine this and post later.

On another couponing note, there are PLENTY of us hardcore couponers out there as I was reminded this morning when trying to print a B1G1 egg coupon from www.thegoodeggproject.org. These ran out QUICK.

Hope you all had a fantastic holiday! I'm already thinking New Years resolutions- one of mine will be to strictly track spending and saving throughout all of 2010!