Most people are pretty surprised to find out that I'm not a fan of Black Friday. I mean, I have a blog devoted to bargain shopping...isn't Black Friday the biggest day of the year for someone like me? I guess it should be, but I have never really gotten into it.
First of all, I grew up in central Kansas where there aren't a lot of shopping options, so it was never a tradition for anyone I knew. And most years we end up going back to our small hometowns for the holidays, so we don't have the opportunity to shop Black Friday unless we want to go to Walmart, and I would rather poke my eyes out than step foot in that place first thing in the morning on the craziest shopping day of the year.
But even the years where we stay here in Kansas City I just don't venture out on all-day shopping excursions. I think the main reason is the crowds and crazy atmosphere. I really don't like competitive shopping. I also don't like waking up early and to get the REAL deals on Black Friday, you need to be up at 4am. And yeah...there are pretty much NO deals that are worth that to me!
Another reason I don't like it is that I feel like the deals aren't really all that great. Yes, each store probably has one or two items that are marked down super low that are really great deals. But for the most part the rest of what you are going to find are just mediocre deals that will probably be around after Black Friday is over. BF is a retailers dream come true...they lure in crowds of shoppers who all assume that they are getting a great deal on everything in their cart, when in reality the store is still making a ton of money off of shoppers who buy everything in sight. Smart Black Friday shoppers make a specific list of what they want at each store and stick to it, avoiding the temptation of pretty displays and ginormous SALE signs. But I just choose to wait until Cyber Monday or AFTER Christmas to get my hot deals.
But just because I'm a Black Friday Scrooge doesn't mean I think everyone else should be, too. I think it could be a really fun day with friends or family if you have a group that loves the thrill of the hunt. And if that one item that you or your child MUST have this Christmas is one of the things on sale, then by all means get out there and fight for one! But the rest of us will be sleeping in, eating turkey leftovers, and watching Christmas movies in our pajamas!!