Black Friday Finds

I am not a fan of Black Friday, huge swarms of people trying to get their hands on the latest curved television or HD gaming systems or whatever the fuck people "need" these days. I do like Cyber Monday, though. I like deals and not having to wait in lines and efficient shopping. I hate purchasing something then finding it even less expensive somewhere else. Without a lot of disposable income, those extra dollars that could have been saved hit me in the gut.

It seemed like this year Cyber Monday started on Thanksgiving and it was just an entire weekend of email blasts from companies I've purchased from in the past however many years. I saw a few items on Amazon.com that I've been meaning to get for the past few months or years at ridiculous prices, so I went for it.

I only buy trashy celebrity gossip magazines when I am either sick or when it's a really good deal. Amazon was running a $5 subscription deal and People was listed. It's only for three months, but it's weekly so it's a pretty good deal. It also came in the mail when I was home sick, so I saw that as a nod from the Guilty Pleasure Gods.

Though I don't read it on the regular, I like the crafty Real Simple magazine. It's Martha Stewart Living 2.0--not quite as out of touch (i.e. 48 steps to decorating the perfect holiday cookies), more like her rebellious daughter's version of a lifestyle magazine. I still prefer almost everything crafty from Bust, and interior design tours from Dwell or Apartment Therapy, but it's a good alternative. It's modern but not necessarily innovative. I like the clean layout, and all-in-all it is definitely worth $5.

I had looked up some low cost bluetooth players about a year ago (I dream of Sonos or Bose when I hit the jackpot) and ended up choosing one that broke right after the 30 day warranty was up. The Jam Classic Bluetooth speaker was in the running and in retrospect, I really wish I had gone with it. On Black Friday, this little nugget was discounted to $18 (I've seen it around the $40 mark previously) and I'm really happy with it. It has a lot of sound for such a little guy, and is really easy to use and pair. It works with all of my devices (laptop, tablet, phone) and I'm so happy that they ran the promo with the simple black number instead of the slimer green color.

The Lumsing USB charger with two ports was discounted to $8 (retailing for $20) and I've been needing one of these to charge my phone on long road trips. I borrowed/tried to steal a similar model from a friend and found it to be handy. I like that it has two ports in case multiple people want to charge up. It's sleek, white, and super simple.

Lastly, I had been wanting an additional battery to keep in my purse for when my phone goes dead and I don't have access to an electrical outlet. This is perfect. I can keep the Jackery Mini Premium charger in my purse until I need it. It's small, cute, and best of all, GOLD. I love the way this device looks, and it was on sale for $15.95 (retailing at just under $70!).

So, that's my splurge. Did you find any good deals this year?


DISCLAIMER: I know that Amazon is packaged so nice and pretty despite the fact that the way it drops its prices makes it nearly impossible for small businesses to compete, stomping many of them out. It's not much better than Walmart in that way. However, these items are conveniences that I probably would not have purchased outside this price point.