Black Friday / Cyber "Indefinite Period" Purchases?

[scfr]

I purchased cleaning supplies with a Black longer-than-just-Friday discount, and 2 T-shirts on a Cyber longer-than-just-Monday promotion.

DH got a new free phone. He had been wanting to switch cell phone carriers, waited, and did it when the promo launched.
He is sorely disappointed that his favorite golf course did not offer a good promo this year like they did last year. We were prepared to buy and had it on our watch list, but it didn't materialize.

The Target 10% discount on store brand gift cards will be this weekend (must be a Circle member, limit $500) and I plan to buy the full $500 since between my household and Mom's we'll probably use that much in the coming year.

That's it for us this year.
What about everyone else?

[disneysteve]

The Target 10% discount on store brand gift cards will be this weekend (must be a Circle member, limit $500)

Thanks for this. I had totally forgotten about that. They upped it to $500 from $300 which is nice but since you have to have a Circle account, that prevents us from getting 3 x $300 like we did last year. And the sale is Saturday and Sunday instead of just one day.

[Like2Plan]

Dang! Another hoop to jump through? What is a circle account? Is it a loyalty program or a credit card?

[kork13]

Thanks for this. I had totally forgotten about that. They upped it to $500 from $300 which is nice but since you have to have a Circle account, that prevents us from getting 3 x $300 like we did last year. And the sale is Saturday and Sunday instead of just one day.

You and your wife could each do it with separate Circle accounts... DW & I recently did that for a Target deal with car seat trade-in... We had a pair of car seats for our boys that were ina car accident, and trading them both in on separate accounts got us 20% off 2 new ones for DD getting born in March.

[kork13]

Dang! Another hoop to jump through? What is a circle account? Is it a loyalty program or a credit card?

Loyalty program

[Joan.of.the.Arch]

The Target Circle thing is not a credit card. I just looked at my Target account and I am in Circle, but do not have a Target credit card. Circle provides a very small reward on my online purchases (I think 1%) that I always apply to my very next purchase.

I'm going to try to find out whether I can buy the discounted Target gift cards without going in to the store. Right now, I cannot even find whether I have any GC credit left. It seems to indicate I have -$20 on my cards, which is to say that somehow I owe them. I don't think that could happen.

[Like2Plan]

Loyalty program

The Target Circle thing is not a credit card. I just looked at my Target account and I am in Circle, but do not have a Target credit card. Circle provides a very small reward on my online purchases (I think 1%) that I always apply to my very next purchase.

I'm going to try to find out whether I can buy the discounted Target gift cards without going in to the store. Right now, I cannot even find whether I have any GC credit left. It seems to indicate I have -$20 on my cards, which is to say that somehow I owe them. I don't think that could happen.

Thanks, I guess I will have to join.

[disneysteve]

I'm going to try to find out whether I can buy the discounted Target gift cards without going in to the store.

It's been available online in past years.

[Joan.of.the.Arch]

It's been available online in past years.

Hmm. I was thinking that last year they told me I had to come in to buy them. But it seems like I remember one year buying them online and having them mailed to me.

By the way, Target has posted both online and in their print ad that you can get a 10% discount on a purchase (without using your gift card, I mean) up until December 12.

[kork13]

So this weekend was horrifyingly expensive for us. Makes me a little sick just to lay it out like this..... But hey, 'tis the season, and we can easily afford it. So whatever, I guess...
1) Sunday was DW's birthday, so while her parents were visiting for Thanksgiving, we went up to Boise for a weekend sans kids. Nothing too thrilling, but we had a couples massage, nice dinner out, stayed at a great hotel, shopping, and generally relaxed for a couple days. (~$400)
2) Robot vacuum. Our previous one stopped sucking about a year ago, but we delayed replacing it until we were settled into our new house. Got it for ~20% off the normal price ($400)
3) Exchanged our mattress. We upgraded to a king size mattress, and initially got the original Purple mattress back in ~Sep. Well, turns out that one's too firm for both of us...So we're exchanging it within their trial window for one of their hybrid ones that's softer (and we actually made sure to try this one out in person first)..... but it's double the price. I would have loved to get something less expensive, but we sleep hot so memory foam is unbearable for us...there's really not much else available for a good, neutral sleep temperature. Plus, it really is quite comfortable. ($1300) Oh, one other nice thing here -- they can't resell our 3-month-used mattress, so they're letting us just donate it to a local charity for them to use instead! There's a shelter up in Boise that accepts used mattresses in good condition, so we just need to figure out how to get the thing up there. Figure that's a better use than just having it get recycled for materials. Side thought -- I wonder if we'll still be able to claim the donation on taxes...?
4) Clothes, toys, books, & stocking stuffers galore. We're sponsoring Christmas for a local family in need (3 kids+parents) through our town's Giving Tree program with the Chamber of Commerce. So we bought each kid a couple full sets of clothes+winter coats+pajamas, a toy/game or two, some books, and we're building stockings for all of them (parents included...though we know even less about the parents, so it's kinda tough). We're also planning to give them a ~$100 gift card to Albertsons for groceries. While we were at it, we also picked up some gifts/stocking stuffers for our own family (~$500 total).
5) Renewed a couple annual memberships (and got a lifetime membership for one) at steep discounts of 30%-60% off. ($250)
6) New Christmas tree -- our previous one was tossed due to a bunch of the pre-installed lights failing, and it was generally not in the greatest shape after ~8 years of use. Found a nice one for a reasonable price at least, hopefully this lasts 8-10 years again ($150).
7) Paid both our rental property and primary home's property taxes, due in December -- woof! No Black Friday specials to be had here! ($7000)
Total damage: a nice round $10,000 .... !!!!!
Gratefully the taxes money was sitting in savings, and with our house paid off, we've got sufficient of cashflow to absorb the hit (+general savings cash to cover any gaps).

[disneysteve]

we went up to Boise for a weekend sans kids. Nothing too thrilling, but we had a couples massage, nice dinner out, stayed at a great hotel, shopping, and generally relaxed for a couple days

I really miss being able to do stuff like that. But with outdoor dining season over here, I have no desire to have to do takeout for all of our meals and eat in the hotel room. And you can't really go anywhere like museums or theaters or anything. I don't need to go away just to sit in the hotel all day. I'd rather be home.

[Like2Plan]

I'm giving this a bump to remind folks about the "The Target 10% discount on store brand gift cards will be this weekend" mentioned upthread.
Today is the last day.....

[LivingAlmostLarge]

So this weekend was horrifyingly expensive for us. Makes me a little sick just to lay it out like this..... But hey, 'tis the season, and we can easily afford it. So whatever, I guess...
1) Sunday was DW's birthday, so while her parents were visiting for Thanksgiving, we went up to Boise for a weekend sans kids. Nothing too thrilling, but we had a couples massage, nice dinner out, stayed at a great hotel, shopping, and generally relaxed for a couple days. (~$400)
2) Robot vacuum. Our previous one stopped sucking about a year ago, but we delayed replacing it until we were settled into our new house. Got it for ~20% off the normal price ($400)
3) Exchanged our mattress. We upgraded to a king size mattress, and initially got the original Purple mattress back in ~Sep. Well, turns out that one's too firm for both of us...So we're exchanging it within their trial window for one of their hybrid ones that's softer (and we actually made sure to try this one out in person first)..... but it's double the price. I would have loved to get something less expensive, but we sleep hot so memory foam is unbearable for us...there's really not much else available for a good, neutral sleep temperature. Plus, it really is quite comfortable. ($1300) Oh, one other nice thing here -- they can't resell our 3-month-used mattress, so they're letting us just donate it to a local charity for them to use instead! There's a shelter up in Boise that accepts used mattresses in good condition, so we just need to figure out how to get the thing up there. Figure that's a better use than just having it get recycled for materials. Side thought -- I wonder if we'll still be able to claim the donation on taxes...?
4) Clothes, toys, books, & stocking stuffers galore. We're sponsoring Christmas for a local family in need (3 kids+parents) through our town's Giving Tree program with the Chamber of Commerce. So we bought each kid a couple full sets of clothes+winter coats+pajamas, a toy/game or two, some books, and we're building stockings for all of them (parents included...though we know even less about the parents, so it's kinda tough). We're also planning to give them a ~$100 gift card to Albertsons for groceries. While we were at it, we also picked up some gifts/stocking stuffers for our own family (~$500 total).
5) Renewed a couple annual memberships (and got a lifetime membership for one) at steep discounts of 30%-60% off. ($250)
6) New Christmas tree -- our previous one was tossed due to a bunch of the pre-installed lights failing, and it was generally not in the greatest shape after ~8 years of use. Found a nice one for a reasonable price at least, hopefully this lasts 8-10 years again ($150).
7) Paid both our rental property and primary home's property taxes, due in December -- woof! No Black Friday specials to be had here! ($7000)
Total damage: a nice round $10,000 .... !!!!!
Gratefully the taxes money was sitting in savings, and with our house paid off, we've got sufficient of cashflow to absorb the hit (+general savings cash to cover any gaps).

Kork, how the helll do you only spent $400 on a weekend away? I must terribly stupid but between the hotel let's assume $100 a night (unlikely) = $200 and then an hour couples massage $200 then dinner $200 i'm at $600 before anything else. I'm hoping I'm just stupid. I find that people who say they went away for a weekend it's gotta be more than that. Sometimes the hotel alone is $200 a night and that's not high end

[disneysteve]

Kork, how the helll do you only spent $400 on a weekend away? I must terribly stupid but between the hotel let's assume $100 a night (unlikely) = $200 and then an hour couples massage $200 then dinner $200 i'm at $600 before anything else. I'm hoping I'm just stupid. I find that people who say they went away for a weekend it's gotta be more than that. Sometimes the hotel alone is $200 a night and that's not high end

Maybe by "weekend" they meant Saturday and Sunday, so only one hotel night. $200 is a little rich for dinner. For a nice meal out, I'd say my wife and I are usually more in the $75-100 range depending on if drinks are involved. I have no idea what massages cost as I've never had one.

Personally, we have over half a million Marriott points so a weekend trip for us is often zero for the hotel at least.

[kork13]

Kork, how the helll do you only spent $400 on a weekend away? I must terribly stupid but between the hotel let's assume $100 a night (unlikely) = $200 and then an hour couples massage $200 then dinner $200 i'm at $600 before anything else. I'm hoping I'm just stupid. I find that people who say they went away for a weekend it's gotta be more than that. Sometimes the hotel alone is $200 a night and that's not high end

DS is correct, it was only one night @ $130. Dinner only cost us the tip out of pocket (gift card for me, free birthday meal for DW). Had it been a Hilton or Marriott property, that could have been free with points as well.