It’s Time to Start Preparing My Black Friday Shopping Strategy

It's getting down to the wire and with Black Friday a little more than a week away, it's time to figure out how to get through the madness.

In just a little over a week, it will be the biggest shopping day of the year.  Tons of people will be out and about looking for great deals on Christmas gifts.  How does one prioritize? I've got a few things that I do to try to make it through the craziness with my sanity.

A few weeks before, I try to start thinking about what sorts of things I'm going to be looking for on Black Friday.  If I'm looking for electronics, I don't care how good the deal is, I'm not going to an electronics store.  I'll check the deals at Target or Walmart and if they're not as good, then I will wait.  I don't worry too much about other things as I figure I'll be able to get them one way or another.

Once I know what I'm looking for I check out the Black Friday ads.  I know many release their deals early, so that helps.  Otherwise, I just make sure to get the paper and I go through all the ads.  I usually make a list of where the best deals are and where I want to go.

After that, I just prioritize what is the most important and hit those stores first.  I don't sweat it when I miss out on things because there will be other opportunities to get good deals.  I just might have to wait.

I know some people have crazy, well planned out strategies when it comes to conquering Black Friday shopping.  What's yours?