Make Black Friday a little brighter

Our colleague Tightwad Tod has posted an excellent primer on “11 Ways to Strike Gold on Black Friday.” We’ve got a few tips of our own to throw into the mix:

Look for specials now. You may be able to skip the madness altogether if you snag some bargains before Turkey Day. Walmart, Costco and several other major retailers, are posting hefty deals online right now. For more stores, check sites like dealnews. If you see a good price, pounce. Quantities in many cases are limited.

Get RSS feeds. No doubt you’ve already perused the big Black Friday sites, including blackfriday.info, bfads, iblackfriday and dealnews, which preview the ads for the morning’s goodies. Make sure you don’t miss late-breaking deals by signing up on each site for updates to be delivered to your feed reader.

Start early. Very early. Some stores, such as Ralph Lauren Polo Factory Stores, are opening at 12:01 a.m. Some are even opening on “Black Thursday” — which we prefer to think of as Thanksgiving. Many Kmart locations will be open all day, with special pricing on many items. Some KB Toys branches are letting shoppers in at 10 p.m. Thanksgiving evening.

Look beyond the usual suspects. Hordes of people will likely be lined up outside big-box retailers such as Walmart and Sears. Avoid the crowds and head to stores such as Joann Fabrics and CVS, which are offering gift items at steep discounts. One example: CVS is advertising a Kodak Easy Share camera for $89.99; if you have a CVS ExtraCare card, you’ll be credited with $20 you can use the next time you shop.

Wait in comfort. A friend of mine, a veteran of many a Black Friday, has the right idea. She brings a friend, packs up a Thermos of coffee, and waits in the relative warmth and comfort of her car. Unless the line is wrapping around the block, she’s been able to walk right in when the doors open.