Black Friday Wins

I've never participated in Black Friday before this year.  I was always interested, but no one in my family was ever into it and I wasn't motivated to get up early by myself to brave the crowds.  This year, wild beasts couldn't have kept me away from Walmart on Thursday night! 

Remember when I told you about our tv breaking?  Well, we've lived with an old box tv that doesn't accept digital broadcasts since then.  I guess it's been about a year?  We got by with just our XBOX 360 and a Netflix subscription.  We watched Lost together (actually we've got about 20 episodes to go but we are B-O-R-E-D with it), and I broke down and watched Grey's during my "breakfast break".  (I wake up at 6, but Madison doesn't wake up 'til 7 or 8.  It's a pretty great way to ease into the day!)

We could have replaced it right away, but we really wanted to focus on getting out of debt (check!) and building our full emergency fund (check!) first.  That plan worked out pretty well for us; the new tv was like a really big, shiny, 1080p carrot.  We were INTENSE.  The most exciting thing about it all was how well the timing worked out.  We completed our emergency fund 11/15, giving us just enough time to squeeze together a couple hundred bucks for a new doorbuster tv!

Warning:  this is a short story gone long.  Feel free to skip to the bottom to see how we did. 

We shopped around and seriously considered a few different deals.  Our actual budget was $350, but the cheapskate mentality has been so thoroughly ground into us that we were thrilled to find something for way less.  Our criteria were:

• 32"-42" (I wanted smaller, Pat wanted bigger, go figure)
• at least 1080p
• not plasma (LED or LCD would work)

and that was it.  We didn't worry too much about brand, Hz rating, or anything else.  In this house, it's our main (only) tv, but in the next one it'll probably be moving to our bedroom to make room for something bigger.

We found the perfect product in the Walmart Black Friday ads.  At their 10pm Thursday release, they were selling an Emerson 42" LCD 1080p for $198.  SOLD!  My only concern was that pesky "while supplies last" disclaimer.  That's why I ended up in line by myself at 6:30 that evening and only got to enjoy one slice of sweet potato pie as opposed to half the dish.  Hmmm.  Maybe I should do Black Friday EVERY year.  It's cheaper than a stomach pump!

After a couple of hours in line, they handed out numbered tickets to hold people's places.  I was number 35.  At this point, I realized that I was for sure leaving with a tv.  I also realized that I would be responsible for getting said tv through the store, to the checkout, and to the car.  All without a buggy (they were out).  So I did what any independent woman would do-I called my husband.  Well, technically I called my dad, but only so I could speak to my husband (whose phone was dead).  My mom agreed to sit with Madison after Pat put her down so he could come play security/pack mule.

They released the tvs right at 10:00.  We got ours and headed toward the checkout, only to be turned around by a somewhat disgruntled police officer telling us "The line's that way."  We turned in the direction she pointed, and saw a line extending from the checkout down to the garden center, then turning the corner.  After finding the end of the line and waiting another hour (no joke), we FINALLY made it to the checkout.  I've never been so relieved to shell out two-hundred and sixteen beans (with tax) in my life.

We celebrated our win at Whataburger with a chicken strip combo, honey butter chicken biscuit, onion rings, two large DDPs, and a chocolate shake.  We justified by saying it was still (barely) Thanksgiving day.

The next day we put it all together, and it was a sight to behold! 

 The size is pretty much perfect for our living room.  Maybe it's a little big, but not so much that you have to press your head against the wall or anything.  And yes, I'm perfectly aware that my shelves are in dire need of dusting.  Madison may or may not have pulled all the books off before I took the picture.  And I may or may not have been dusting around (instead of under) those books for the last six months or so.  I'm totally on it now, though.

 In that last shot, please look past the basket-o-junk in the foreground.  What I was trying to show was the depth difference between the two tvs.  Bear in mind that the old tv is set back like 8 feet from the new one.  As a point of reference, when the old tv sat on the buffet, with the buffet pulled out from the wall like this, the back touched the wall and the front was lined up perfectly with the front of the buffet.  So the new tv has drastically changed the feeling of the room when you first come in the front door.  Before it was like, "Hello, giant old school tv!  Oh, and there's a room too."  Now, it's all, "I'm in a living room.  Oh, and there's a tv."  See the difference?

The next purchase didn't take nearly as much saving, planning, or waiting.  We pretty much saw it, liked it, and bought it the next day.  No five hour ordeal necessary. 

Yeah, it's official.  I'm a stay-at-home mom, blogger, baker, DIYer, and now a "seamstress".  (Please not that most of those are said very sarcastically.  I'm well aware of my deficits in every area.  No need to point them out for me.)  All that's left is for me to get a DSLR camera and... I'm every woman (it's all in meeeee....")

For the story skippers, we got the tv and a sewing machine, all for less than the regular price of the tv.  Boom.

Did you get out there for Black Friday?  What about Small Business Saturday or Cyber Monday? 

Happy Friday!
-Kelli