Do you prefer waiting in long lines and fighting the crowds on Friday or shopping from the convenience of your computer on Monday? I’ve only been out Black Friday early twice and it was a nightmare. I hated every second of it. Long lines, crowds of people, and the door buster deals advertised – out of stock or in some obscure corner of the store. Yet, I still might do it again depending on what deals are out there.

This year’s discounts are said to be much better than in the past due to nervous retailers fearing low sales due to the down economy. So this could be a good year to get the most bang for your buck IF you have any bucks to spend. I have a few things I’m going to do before I decide whether I’m going to brave the elements. First is to organize my holiday gift giving.

::Organizing Holiday Gift Giving::

1. Make a list of gift recipients.
2. Set Budget.
3. Gather gift ideas & compare to my stocked gift closet. (Items I buy throughout the year at deep discounts to use for gift occasions.) I will use Wishpot Tools to organize online.
4. Compare Ads and find the best deals using online sites such as Black Friday 2008, Black Friday Info, or Gotta Deal’s Black Friday.
5. Decide if the potential cost savings is worth the hassle of fighting the crowds.

While it is always exciting to be involved in Black Friday and I have the day off anyway, it may not live up to the hype with large crowds, out of stock items or limited quantity items. Besides that some of the Black Friday “Doorbuster” deals are of lower quality or stripped down versions. All of this leads to a frustration and possible shopping “rage” which is not the spirit of Christmas.

So depending on the deals, I may just hold off and look at the Cyber Monday Deals while being able to comparison shop, use cash back programs like Ebates, Big Crumbs, etc. (read more about these programs HERE, and not have those extra impulse items in my cart. Better yet, the closer towards the big day, retailers may mark items down even more!

I’m not saying “NO” just yet to Black Friday but most likely I won’t be waking up at 5am to fight the crowds. (We’ve actually gone Friday night before when the stores are so empty it is eeiry and still found good deals.) You don’t have to choose – maybe you do Black Friday Deals & Cyber Monday Deals!

SO what is your shopping strategy? Or do you already have your shopping done?

::Some Important Dates to keep in mind::

• November 28th – Black Friday
• December 1st – Cyber Monday
• December 20th – Last day to ship with guaranteed by Christmas
• December 20th – 25th – Last minute shopping.
• December 26th – January 6th – After Christmas Shopping with deep discounts to clear the shelves of the Holiday items.

I will be posting the latest Cyber Monday Deals & Codes here all week long and any Black Friday Deal I think are noteworthy so….Don’t miss out on any deals: Subscribe to my free newsletter via email or RSS.