It's a total family bonding experience for us, but I like the way we do it. My mom, her sister, and I are all recreational shoppers. We go in a large group with my aunt's best friend from high school and her daughters and daughters in law. We love hunting for a deal but never "have" to get something. We spend Thursday eating turkey, playing cards, and watching football. Friday we get up around 8 am, get dressed, and hop in the car. We eat breakfast in the car (packed the night before) on the way to the outlet mall, shop from 9:30 until 1 or so, eat lunch, and then finish visiting the stores in the mall we'd like to shop at. After that, we drive to another area mall that has a Crate and Barrel, shop there, go out for dinner at one of the restaurants, do any other mall shopping we'd like, and head home. It's a fun experience and we go late enough in the day that all the crazy people are gone. I think I generally spend between $300-$500 and get almost all my Christmas shopping for the year done. For me, it's an absolute blast the way we do it. Mustachian, maybe not, but it's also not the crazy people who are skipping dinner to line up for TVs.
On Saturday, we go to shop small Saturday in a neighboring suburb of my childhood home, and then to a Christkindlmarket. For a family that loves to shop, it's a great way to spend the weekend.