Black Friday is coming…are you ready?

• Do your research. With all of the Black Friday craze, you have to remember to play smart, and be one step ahead. While there are some amazing bargains to be found on Black Friday, you definitely want to make sure you are getting the most for your money. Some stores offer deeper discounts at different times during the day. Others may have a better sale for Cyber Monday. Research, research, research.
• Get your beauty sleep. You may think that you can pull an all nighter and just head out at 2am, but you will be completely drained within an hour. During Black Friday sales there is so much visual stimulation and anticipation, sleep is an absolute MUST. Enjoy your tasty Thanksgiving dinner (if you celebrate it), and head to bed at a decent hour on Thursday. Your body & your brain will appreciate it come Friday morning.
• Don’t feed into the mania. So many people think, “Oh my goodness I have to get up and run out to all of the stores before everything is gone. Quick, run, scream, ahh!!” It’s completely unnecessary. The stores plan for a huge demand, so they generally have quite a large supply for such a massive sale day. The last thing a retailer wants is angry customers at 5am.
• Be smart, get an early start. I’ve said this before, in my Black Friday Shopping Tips post last year, and I’ll say it again. This is key. You can get most, if not all of your shopping done before 6am if you play it right. In my experience, I’ve been able to hit up two malls, several stand-alone stores, and enjoy a delish breakfast well before 7am. That’s when you can head home with a happy wallet, shopping bags galore, and a full belly, feeling satisfied and accomplished. Time to crawl back into bed and grab a few more hours of sleep!
• Shop in-stores AND online. Why wait for Cyber Monday when you can grab some great web-exclusive deals on Friday? Yes, Cyber Monday is the king when it comes to online shopping sale days, but Black Friday does offer a great amount of bargains on the web too. Not all folks want to leave their house at the wee hours of the morning when it’s chilly outside. 
• Shop your favorite/must-visit stores FIRST. I have a list of stores that I always visit first on Black Friday. I tend to go to Macy’s, Old Navy, and Victoria’s Secret before I leave the malls and head to Target or any other shop. Those stores generally become mobbed with crazies around 6am, and I like my shopping experience to be relaxed, not panicked. It makes me smile to myself when I walk past those stores with my respective shopping bag and see them filled to the brim with people, knowing that I already did my shopping there.
• Last but not least, Enjoy yourself!! Shopping is fun, exciting, and can be thrilling if you let it. Don’t allow yourself to stress over what’s supposed to be a day of money-saving fun!

Do you plan to go Black Friday shopping this year? What are your favorite stores to hit up?