black friday bargains

me, i most always buy stuff with some sort of discount/coupon/sale etc. we live in such an urban area with many stores so there are always deals to be had. today i braved the crowds and freezing rain for a microwave. ours died about 3 weeks ago and i was going to buy one then at $50+ but decided we could hold off until now. target had a great oster microwave for $33, not the most powerful but more than enough for our needs. then i treated myself to breakfast, 20% off, and then off to joann's for more deals. i got 15 yards of muslin at 50% off plus another 20% off, then thread 2 for 1, some christmas half yards at 50% off too and a batt, again 50% off. the store handed out $5 gift cards to those of us who were waiting so tomorrow i'm headed back for another half-price batt. it's how i've kept my quilting purchases pretty low this year. i'm betting the total won't be over $400 for everything, that includes used books on amazon, occasional magazines, other fabric/notions/tools purchases plus my guild membership. i've already paid my bills for the month and gotten a few christmas gifts as well, so it was prudent shopping. fortunately the freezing rain stopped and the temps are going up a bit, but it was an unwelcome harbinger of impending meteorologic inevitabilities.