How did you spend your Black Friday?

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sudsmaster

sudsmaster

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Joined
Dec 23, 2004
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Did you join the throngs at the mall? Empty your checking account, max out your credit cards? Any new laundry/kichen appliances to show for it?

Me, I started Black Friday on Wednesday night. Fry's was having another sale on Toshiba notebooks so I snagged a thin dual-core Pentium for $500. Got the Friday newspaper at 6 am, and read that Fry's was having a 5 am sale with Compaq Celeron notebook for $300. Well, I wanted a dual core Pentium so I didn't rush out to get the Compaq (plus I think Toshiba makes a better machine).

But it's still sitting in the box, unopened. Can you tell I'm kind of jaded about computers? This one will be used for work... machining cam programs, etc. OK, maybe some transfering of LP's to CD's as well ;-). And it will be the first computer I have that might just be able to play Youtube videos without getting all jiggy with it.

Then it was off to Harbor Freight for their one day sale - got a 10" compound miter saw for $50. You can spend almost that much for a single blade.

But the topper was that I finally got the early 60's Maytag DE-500 electric dryer - the one with no time, just buttons for fabric type. Pics are over in the Imperial (Pink Vintage) forum. No lines, no waiting!

;-)
 
Having stayed overnight in Minneapolis, I went to two places I knew wouldn't be mobbed: Los Amigos (Mexican Downy, yay!!) and Litin Party & Everything (the place to go for all sizes of deli containers, bakery boxes, Chinese take-out boxes and to-go coffee cups).

Heading home, I stopped at Sam's Club, Cub Foods (gotta love that Global Foods aisle) and Snell Quick Lube (the Mighty Geo turned over 213,000 on this trip) in Mankato. Sam's was busy, but their pre-scanners were out in full force, so the lines moved v. quickly.
 
me

1. Ace hardware - for a socket wrench extension

2. The gym 45 minutes of weights and 30 of cardio, followed by a dunk in the pool and hot tub

3. back to Michael's and replace the pump on the maytag A806

4 dinner out with Michael...

I hate shopping..
 
Wal-Mart, bought nothing.

Walgreens, spent $29 on three faux beanie babies, three red & three green CF bulbs.

Blockbuster, spent $4.29 for rental of The Jetsons Season 1.
 
I managed to avoid crowds. I got to Fry's just before closing Wednesday night, and managed to snag one of the last notebooks - someone had snagged one earlier in the day but never paid for it "up front". It wasn't very crowded. Today, I got to Harbor Freight relatively early (about 7:15 am) and again no major crowding (power tools are not exactly something the average shopper here goes ga-ga over). And of course, picking up the DE-500 entailed nothing more than putting air in the truck tires and driving about 60 miles round trip. The hardest part was backing the dryer up a steep driveway, then backing the truck up to that, for easier one-man loading (the sellers had left it at the curb for me).

Tomorrow I *might* brave the crowds at the local Sears to look at some of the table saws under $200 they have on sale. But I'm thinking of getting something much different (a $550 Ridgid contractor saw) that would last a lot longer, cut more precisely, with a lifetime warranty. But that will have to wait a little - don't need it right away anyway. Next spring I'm planning on ripping a large stack of 16 ft heart redwood 2x4's in half to make 2x2's to put a sun/egret screen above the koi pond. I'll need a table saw that doesn't walk, jam, or tip over for that. Right now it's covered with reed fencing which is nearing the end of its five year lifespan. And the reed fencing is a royal pain to replace, cause you can't walk or sit on it.
 
Worked the mid shift-and SLEPT thru Black Friday-Hate shopping as well!
Ridgid tools and Sears Craftsman tools are both built by the Emerson power tool division of Emerson electric.Emerson tools makes things for both Sears and Ridgid.They are both good choices.Maybe if you have a stack of lumber to rip-do you know someone or a commercial shop that has a power feed ripsaw?those are nice for ripping mountains of lumber.Power feed ripsaws are expensive though-the least expensive is about $10,000.
 
Thanks Tolivac.

I knew that Ryobi and Dewalt are made by the same company. Didn't realize Craftsman and Ridgid power saws were made by the same outfit as well.

I *could* take the lumber to a mill and have them cut them in two... but then I wouldn't be able to justify a new nifty piece of power equipment... Plus I'm not entirely sure if I want to cut them in half, or in thirds... The lumber wasn't cheap - I think I've spent about $400 so far and I'll need another $200 worth of con com heart redwood to finish the canopy. For that reason, and for future work, I want to make sure a bad saw doesn't ruin the job.
 
We bought a cheap router a few weeks ago at hardware store, it was made in China and it was a bit cumbersome and heavy. My partner took it back and got a Craftsman at Sears but I noticed it was made in China as well. Still it's better than the other one. I was a bit disheartened to see it was made there though.
 
Nothing appreciable in the world of shopping here either. A trip to the supermarket (safest place in town to avoid crowds on the day after Thanksgiving), then to the Villeroy and Boch store for some new everyday flatware, and finally spent the remainder of the day at home. I used the time to put up one of the inside Christmas trees - since it is artificial and prelit, no reason to wait. The real tree in the family room will go up in a few weeks. Also polished all the silver ornaments as well as the good flatware I will use to entertain throughout the holidays - I had forgotten how long it takes to polish service for 16, plus serving pieces and demitasse spoons - thanks Mom!! But it was somehow very soothing to know I was doing exactly what she would have been doing to prepare for the holidays for so many years. Funny how just a simple chore like that brings on a flood of memories - hundreds of holiday dinners, special occasions and the like. It was a gloomy, damp day = perfect for a day at home doing some chores.

I did brave Target and Lord & Taylor around 7PM, but at that time, it was fairly quiet. Just as a note - the local Circuit City and Kohl's stores opened at 4AM and the local news showed the stampede! The outlet mall in Clinton, 45 minutes away opened at midnight on Thanksgiving night and you should have seen the parking lots (shown on the news also) at 1AM - completely full!!! Not sure I will ever understand that.
 
Sadly Craftsman power hand tools are now being made in China-maybe its a different manufacturer than others.DeWalt is a division of Black&Decker-B-D owns DeWalt.Look at one of DeWalts 1.5Hp Routers-Its almost identical to the BD model except the DeWalt model has a yellow motor housing and base.If you are going to do a lot of ripping-best to get a smooth cut"Glue Line" rip blade for your table saw-these blades will make a fast smooth cut-same blades as used in furniture factories nad millwork shops to make smooth cuts to glue up stock to make things like tabletops and such.Such a blade will be worth its cost-Freud makes them.These blades are also carbide tipped-better than a standard steel blade dulling and "burning" its way thru your nice lumber!If you want a REALLY good table saw-suggest you check out a Delta Unisaw-these have been made for many decades-think they are still made in the US Delta factory-they cost $2000-$3500 but would be worth it if you want to do lots of woodworking-the Unisaws have 3-5Hp motors so they won't bog down in heavy ripping jobs.They will need to run from 220V single or three phase-a single ph or three phase motor can be gotten with the machine.I have used Unisaws and they are a really nice machine-school shops and many millwork shops have them.Now very dedicated home woodworkers are getting Unisaws.
 
My wife's uncle stayed overnight, so he & I went out for breakfast. Then we headed to one of our older stores in town that sells work clothes, boots, and other outerwear. They are the only store in town that sells the woolen underwear that he prefers. Then I took him home, he's 83 and doesn't care to drive in Wausau, too many one-way streets. When I got home, I started the weekly laundry. Nothing extraordinary for me.

P.S. Uncle does still drive, but in 2 smaller nearby towns and around home where he lives out in the country.
 
Well, our Sears/Kenmore vacuum cleaner in our basement just broke recently. The front wheels popped off and it was a 16-year-old machine. We bought down our bagless Eureka vacuum cleaner from the first floor and we bought a Eureka Altima bagless upright for the first floor. It cleans very well, in fact, comparable to a Dyson, and it is very quiet.
 
Christmas Lights

I spent the day putting the Christmas Lights outside. Then went over to a friends house for dinner.

MRB
 
My Thanksgiving actually will be tomorrow, so I went shopping for provisions yesterday morning. The grocery store was deserted—it was wonderful!

That’s the only shopping I did!
 
Spent the day relaxing and enjoying a day off!

Not really big on shopping for shopping sake anymore. Guess been watching too much PBS (Suzie Orman, Consuelo Mack,)because my new mantra is to build wealth, not spend every penny that gets into my hands. Really want to start thinking about buying a home in several years, so paying down my debts (two credit cards, Sears is done never to be used again), and student loans. Given how the sub-prime mess has shaken out, people probably are going to be asked for five percent or more down in future, so want to be ready.

L.
 
I only bought

dinner out for my woman friend and me on Black Friday.

I don't mind shopping, when I am in the mood, it can be fun. However, there is no way on earth I would ever ever set foot in a retail establishment other than a supermarket or pharmacy on Black Friday.

What Christmas shopping I am going to do this year (not a lot) is going to be at Walgreens, Lowes, Target, a local INDEPENDENT book store, Amazon, and the supermarket. I am not going to start on it until week after next, too.

Lawrence/Maytagbear
 
Launderess,

Five percent down is probably the minimun people will be asking up front. Around here, a TV news report said that lenders have gone back to requiring 20% down for new purchases. They are that gun shy. Anything under 20% requires mortgage insurance, and I guess the mortgage insurers have taken it on the chin lately. Not that they probably don't deserve it and not that they probably can't afford it.

When I bought in '97, I was able to put 20% down (thanks, booming high tech stock) and avoid mortgage insurance. Even so, my initial fixed loan rate was 8.25% with points (I forget, I think it was around 1.5% points). Over the years I've been able to do a series of "no-cost" refi's with the same bank. The last refi, in 2003, got me down to 4.875%, fixed, on a 15 year, no points no fees. That turned the entire purchase into a 22 year mortgage and I'll be paid up a year after my official retirement age. It's my only long term debt. I paid off my student loans about 20 years ago, and pay off any credit card balance in full every month. Although some brokers were pushing variable rate loans on me, I spurned them, remembering what happened in the late 70's and early 80's to variable mortgage rates.

Funny, back in '99, Suze Orman was advising people to rent, not buy. I wrote her a note saying I thought she was wrong - and she was. It was a great time to buy into real estate. My own home value has at least doubled since '97, even with the recent leveling off of the market. Of course she never replied; I didn't expect a reply. But it was the last time I read her stuff or watched her on the TV. By around 2001, the window had slammed shut, and home prices began skyrocketing. Maybe she was just prescient... lol... but I think, rather, she was just clinging to untimely homilies about how home ownership can be more costly than renting (it can).

Perhaps this is the time of another real estate buying opportunity. I don't know. My guess is that people will be buying if they can afford it without going into risky debt. There are just too many real and intangible benefits to owning your own home, even with high prices and tight credit. And, compared to 1997, mortgage rates are still very reasonable today.
 
Not to hijack a thread, *LOL*.

Think one problem many of these "sub-prime" new homeowners have is the shock of what really goes into owning a home. There is a reason a house is called a "money pit" and if one is not at all handy, or careful owning a home can easily kick one in the hind-quarters versus renting.

Right now many are bemoaning heating costs, especially those who either bought huge homes, or those who bought older or badly insulated houses. Read about a family in RI, or was it Maine? Either way couple bought an old barn of a farm house to live in and the place has next to no insulation. They are getting killed in heating costs, and may have to pack up and move. Until then it is sweaters all around, and lots of cutting back.

Homeownership implies one will do things to keep one's property up so it will sell at a good price later on. If you don't have the time and skill, nor the funds, letting your property go will surely decrease your ROI, and probably tick off your neighbors as well.

Suzie Orman:

Listen to some of her stuff, tune the rest out. She is right about if people can't make ends meet now when they are young, what are they going to do at 60 or above? IMHO far to many people are living beyond their means, and like Scarlett O'Hara, not thinking about it until tomorrow.

Sub-Prime Mess

Yea, probably is a good time for someone with ready cash and rock hard stomach/nerves to pick over carcasses and find deals. Florida amoung other areas is attracting "vultures" looking to cash in on over extended property investors/owners.
Problem is the cash. Banks aren't giving it away anymore, so if you are looking to buy, better have 700+ credit score AND a healthy deposit. Don't even think about jumbo loans.

L.
 
20% Down

On the average house ($250,000) is about 50,000. That is a big nut for the average family these days to put away/come up with. Then again if people are careful and start saving early, it is possible. Probably will need some help from the parents though. You can do an FHA, Vetrans and a few other federal programs with about 5% down, but those loans can be hard to find.
 
Uninsulated homes

Losing a home to underinsulation and heating costs? Not a good excuse, IMHO.

Weatherproofing and insulating a home is not difficult and well within the range of most new homeowners. It only takes a caulking gun and some other simple materials to seal off air leaks. A lot of people wind up spending thousands replacing their home's windows while their attics remain uninsulated or underinsulated. Stupid.

I sealed off air leaks and insulated my attic myself - and cut my winter gas bill in half. Granted, there were some pretty serious air leaks - the kitchen cooktop peninsula range hood had no damper whatsoever - basically an open hole in the ceiling for warm air to escape. What made it worse is that the kitchen and one of the original bedrooms had been remodeled into an open plan kitchen/laundry nook/family room. So heat could flow from most of the home up that flue.

There was zero insulation in the attic. After sealing off numerous other air leaks, I added about R40 worth of Miraflex no-itch fiberglass batts. I also added soffit venting to help prevent moisture from condensing in the resulting colder attic. Some of the forced air ducting in the vented crawl space had split and was leaking heated air before it ever got the chance to enter the living areas. I fixed that with mastic and fiberglas tape, and then added 1 inch of foil backed insulation around every duct. Then I added insulation (R13) under the flooring. The result was a much less drafty much more comfortable living space, with gas consumption cut in half. And the original aluminum frame single pane windows are still in place. I have no plans to replace them - they are reasonably air-tight and represent a very minor source of heat loss.

A side benefit is that in the summer, the home stays much cooler during heat waves. The attic insulation blocks heat radiated from the roof from entering the living space, and the soffit vents help to keep the attic temps lower to begin with.
 
On the average house ($250,000) is about 50,000.

That's just a little higher than what I paid in 1997 - California property values have always been higher than average, tho. Like I say, some good returns on high tech stocks in the late 90's helped a lot. I could have come up with 10% down without them, though, from years of saving.

One thing I will say: owning a home - esp. one that needs work, and which ones don't? - is a major responsibility. When I was renting I could just curse the landlady privately and live with peeling paint, leaky roof, bad wiring, inadequate insulation, etc. These were all her problems (and she didn't tend to them very well either). Now, I have only myself to blame for any lack of home maintenance. Add to that a lot more land around the home - and many hours spent maintaining/improving/gardening it, and this home has resulted in much less time for other activities. But it's a tradeoff I'm still willing to make, because I have the freedom to do much more. It is perhaps not for everyone, but I had a lot of pent-up home ownership urges and really loved the fixing' up and gardening - at least for the first 10 years. Now the novelty has worn off but I'm still glad I got this place when I did. I am trying however to scale back on certain time-consuming things. I've removed some trees/plantings I put in early on, because they took too much time to care for or keep under control. Live and learn.

Come to think of it, time to mow the lawn.
 
It's interesting the fundamental way of thinking on home ownership between Canada and the USA. Of course tax laws have something to do with it because in Canada you cannot write off your mortgage payments it puts a heavy incentive to pay off your mortage as quickly as possible and get rid of it whereas in the US it seems totally the opposite where many people never actually "own" their house with long term mortages etc. A 30 year mortage here is almost unheard of, 25 years is dicey, most people want it paid in 15 to 20 years. Banks and mortage companies here it seems were always more scrutinizing as well, anything less than 20% I think required mandatory mortgage insurance.

While we could never write off our mortage payments though, there has never been any capital gains tax when it came time to sell.
 
Well, currently at least, in the USA, the first $250,000 of profit from the sale of a home is tax free. For a married couple filing jointly, that increases to $500,000. This is a very popular tax break and I doubt that even if the Dems win back Congress and the White House they will do away with it.

The mortgage interest deduction is a definite incentive to stretch out the mortgage. I went the other way, though, and went from a 30 year to a series of refi's at 15 years. Due to amortization, the interest part of the payments each year have dropped quite a bit, but the property taxes are also deductible so that helps keep me in the itemized bracket. By the time I retire I'll probably be back on the standard "f you" deduction, lol.
 
back on topic

1. Little Brown Jug Estate sale at 7:30. Too much tchotchke
2. Go to the President Casino and lose $13 on the Wheel of Fortune Penny Super Slots and 1¢ Hundred Hand video poker
3. AuBon Estate sale at 10. For sale is a teal Dial-A-Matic with tools and a bojack cord for $15. Have that model so pass.
4. Joan and David Estate sale at 1. I arrive 2 hours early at 11 and read some of the old Good Housekeepings and Better Homes and Gardens I got at the Arnold Food Pantry thrift store. Ironically, the woman on the address label lived three doors down from this sale. Nothing interesting so it's off to work.
5. Work from 1:15-9 doing excess cash pickups and balancing bags.

The last time I went to a Black Friday "doorbuster" was in 2000 at Circuit City was when they had Apex DVD players for $89 (very cheap at the time.) And amazingly 7 years later it still works!
 
I just got my credit card statement today, so I passed on going to Circuit City to pick up a $200 20 inch LCD HDTV, as well as to Sears to look at their table saws. Spent more than enough on power tools and related shop equipment (bead blaster) in the past month. Plus this new notebook computer I'm now typing on (it plays youtube videos just fine, by the way).

I can live a while longer yet with tube NTSC TV, and a nine inch antique table saw ;-).
 
Me: No shopping per se

On Friday in da Sout Side of Chicago:
A) Went to estate sales. Bought fun mint unused West Bend electric Bean Pot. About 1952. Also bought Libby party glassware with circus motif. Matches my other stuff.
B) Cleaned up house after Thanksgiving. Had 22 people over. House still isn't completely clean yet.
C) Did lots of dishes and laundry. Stain treated and washed all the linen tablecloths and napkins we used. Threw them in da Speed Queen with an extra dose of vintage PUNCH detergent. They came out remarkably clean.

ABOUT THE BEAN POT:
I have somewhere this 1957 "Live Better Electrically" ad which rates your level of drudgery based upon the electric appliances you own. Of course, the more electric appliances you own, the closer you get to cutting the apron strings.One appliance recommended to reduce your drudgery was the "Bean pot". A BEAN POT??? Who in GOD's green earth needs a BEAN POT to be freed of the apron strings?
At any rate - there it was.. Glowing like a beacon in the corner of dead Edna's basement. I bought it realizing that I could finally make THAT FINAL CHECK MARK that releases me of the apron strings that tied me to kitchen drudgery. I DO own an ELECTRONIC OVEN - did that release me from my apron strings? Noooo - it is the BEAN POT. We'll see.
 
Well Crud!

Here I thought I lived as well Electrically as I possibly could (if you ignore the insane power bills!)

Now you go and ruin my worldview by telling me that my bean pot is insufficiently Electric. Pooh.

Actually I don't eat beans, and when we do make beans we heat them up using the electric range, and then serve them in our (non-electric) bean pot. I wonder whether that counts?

Do you think I get extra credit on the checklist for my Norelco Automatic Electric Corkscrew?

-kevin

11-25-2007-17-33-52--selectomatic.jpg
 

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