Black Friday sales... ugh!

For the last three years, I am turned off when it comes to Black Friday sales. I don't know why it has become a tradition in Canada when this ritual comes for our neighbours to the south. However, I feel the same way about Black Friday as I do with Boxing Day sales, with some minor differences.

Black Friday used to be shopping on that particular day for bargains. Yes, you'd be shopping on a Friday. These days, you have pre-Black Friday sales. And, there's a catch, too. You can actually have a full weekend or more of these Black Friday sales.

One word: Ugh.

Boxing Day is a Canadian holiday. In the past, stores would be closed that day. There would be Boxing Day sales on December 27, which is a day after this holiday. These days, you can have your sale start on Christmas or even earlier. And, it's not a Boxing Day sale. Oh, no. It's a Boxing week sale, which could carry on for longer than week. Stores are also open on Boxing Day.

The same word: Ugh.

I don't have much to buy for either sale. It has to be something that I truly need. I am trying to adopt a minimalistic approach to debt and shopping these days.

I have also done all my Christmas shopping. I am that prepared.

On Friday, it took forever for me to drive home. It seemed like everyone was out shopping.

My guy called me from Egypt, where he is there for less than a month. It was great hearing from him.  He is over his jetlag and is safe. Chatting with him made my commute more bearable.

"How's my cute girl?" he asked me.
"I am stuck in traffic. I am literally under highway 400," I replied.
"Are you on highway 401?" he asked me.
"Nope, I'm backroading it," I replied. "It's Black Friday."
"Ah, I see," said my fellow shopper. "You don't get too many deals."
"I agree. You probably do in the States."

It's nice that my guy and I are on the same page. For Canadians, the deals are better during the Boxing Day, week, or month sales.

Black Friday - ugh!

Happy belated Thanksgiving for all celebrating the day! I loved living in the States for a couple of years, mainly because I was thankful twice each year. I got to celebrate Canadian and American Thanksgiving.

Black Friday makes me cringe, though. I do not understand why an American trend is now alive and growing like the plague in Canada, other than for commercial reasons. Last year, I refused to participate. I am in the same boat today.

I think I am turned off by these alleged deals in Canada because I don't have anything to buy. I plan my gift-buying so well that I have been done my Christmas shopping since October!

If I do get the itch to buy at discount prices, I will either give Cyber Monday a shot, or wait till we have Boxing Day sales in December.

My rant about Boxing Day sales getting extended in recent years to Boxing week sales merits a new blog post down the road.

My guy, who is an avid shopper, doesn't mind Black Friday. However, he feels the same way that I do about the prices. He hasn't found decent prices on items that he wants. Meanwhile, he loves Boxing Day sales as much as I do.

Cell phone providers, a new phone, and customer service

I recently changed cell phone providers. I had been with my former provider just after I had graduated with an undergraduate degree, which was roughly under two decades ago.

As soon as my cell phone number was transferred to my new cell phone provider, the old one has sent a couple of e-mails, asking that I fill out a survey and that the carrier was sorry to see me go.

Although I would have liked to have stayed with the same cell phone provider, paying a ton of money a month more simply because contracts have changed from three years to two does not exactly make it affordable, even though I would still be okay.

Canada has expensive cell phone plans when you compare them at a global level. To get a subsidized phone, I would need to get on at least an $80 a month plan, which would actually be a downgrade for me. It only includes 500 MB of data. Yes, our data plans are ridiculously high.

I called my old cell phone provider before I made the switch. There were no decent offers given that would make me want to say. I was told that $200 would be knocked off towards subsidizing a new phone, but the $80 rate would stand. I asked how the transfer procedure would work. The woman didn't exactly prevent me from switching. She told me to go ahead and proceeded to explain the procedure.

In the past, I felt like I was a valued customer. Nope, times have changed. This company is so large that loyalty is obsolete.

I'm happy with my new cell phone plan, which is a corporate one. I am enamoured with my new Google Pixel phone. I enjoy using it. I feel bad for my iPhone. I had no problems ditching it.

On Tuesday, my guy called me to see how I was doing. I was at the local mall looking for a cell phone case for my phone. I managed to find two gel cases that were $8 each. I also got a glass screen protector for $10. I was amazed at how cheap everything was. The woman at the store even put the screen protector on for me. Wow!

Now, that's customer service. She gave me her business card. I will definitely be back.

I told my guy that I was talking on my new phone. He is equally as intrigued about the phone as I am. It's nice that he enjoys when I am all geeky with my gadgets. He likes the fact that I enjoy hearing about all the bargains that he found at Costco. It's nice.

Taking a day off to see my guy in his hometown and getting off the night before on Skype

Last Friday, I decided to take the day off.

I did something spontaneous and asked my guy the night before if he'd like to meet me at a liquidation place in his town. He has been raving about it. The deals happen on Fridays. My guy said yes.

Unfortunately, he had a last-minute meeting scheduled Friday morning when I was going to get to the liquidation place. He apologized, but offered to meet up with me after his meeting was over.

I absolutely loved the liquidation place. I got a bunch of decent deals. Shoppers were like hawks there, but it was worth it.

Anyway, I had communicated with my guy the night before on Skype. He told me that he was really horny. I had to ask him when he wasn't!

We both got off that night. Needless to say, we both slept pretty well that evening.

We're s-h-o-p-p-i-n-g... we're shopping!

My guy and I are shoppers. Finding out that he loves to shop was refreshing when we first started dating. It still is.

While my guy was in Seattle a few months ago, he was trying to find some power converters that would work in Cairo. I offered to help find him some, eventually getting eight of these power converters for $5 each. We were both pleased with my find. My guy was particularly proud of me, as he felt the satisfaction of benefiting from such a great deal.

I asked my guy to buy me some bagels in Montreal a week or so ago. He didn't hesitate to get me some. I asked him to buy two dozen. He did even better and got me three bags, each of which had nine. I was thankful.

"I am back in Montreal in December," my guy stated. "I can buy you more bagels."
"That would be great," I told him.
"I know how much you like bagels. How many can you store in your freezer?"
"I don't want you to load up your car full of bagels such that you can't fit your stuff in it" I replied.
"They don't take up space at all. Besides, I love it when you have favourite foods that you love eating. I don't mind getting them for you. Whenever you eat a bagel, you can think of me," he said, being his sweet self.
"I can easily fit four of those bags in my freezer," I replied.
"Perfect. I will buy you that many the next time I'm there."

I am a lucky guy to have a handsome, sweet shopaholic getting me yummy bagels in his travels.

We also spent another evening on Skype, shopping online for laser-cut floor mats for his new car. We learned a lot about them together. He likes the fact that my eyes don't glaze over car talk. It's mainly because my dad was a mechanic, who is now retired. I grew up with seeing car parts and such. Car accessories are more interesting, though.

My guy purchased a set of floor mats. I can't wait to see what he thinks of them. I may order a set for my car.

P.S. This blog post's title is a lyric from "Shopping" by Pet Shop Boys.