You're probably already familiar with Black Friday. It's the day after Thanksgiving and has become known as the shopping kick-off for the holiday season. Stores post some incredible deals to draw in the crowds of holiday shoppers. Well, online shoppers have their own special day. It's known as CyberMonday and the stores are lining up to offer you good deals. Visit CyberMonday.com to see some of the offers (which typically last several days) and kick-off your online holiday shopping season.
If you're a die-hard Black Friday shopper, make sure you take an early peek at upcoming specials. Making a plan ahead of time is the best way to guarantee that you get the items you're most interested in and that you're not spending more than you should. Websites such as BlackFriday.info and Black-Friday.net provide product lists, as well as scans of the actual ads.
Lastly, if you've got a smart phone, there may be applications that can help you plan out your shopping frenzy. CNN reported on some cool iPhone apps that provide you with store layout and allow you to "scan in" bar codes to make sure you're really getting the lowest price. I'm sure retailers are less than thrilled, but it could mean great deals for the tech-savvy shopper.