by Lucinda Davis

Created on: November 26, 2008

Black Friday that wonderful day when a bunch of overworked housewives running on no sleep drag their over stuffed husbands out to find those terrific bargains! It can be a stressful day if you don't make plans. If you follow my advice you can find some terrific bargains and have fun doing it.

Ladies you will want to begin your research online. There are several sites that offer the ads before they come out in the paper, bfads seems to be the best one I've found. They actually scan in the ad and you can use adobe or a zip file to view the ad. You will want someone to accompany you for several reasons. In fact, a third person in this case is never a third wheel. You will need one person to hold your place in line for the oh so coveted television or latest video game. The other person is needed in the event there is another item located at the other end of the store. The third person is the go between or potty break line holder. You can also use this third person to hold your spot in line so you can scope out the store. My favorite place to go for Black Friday would be a place like Meijer that is open all night. You can get there early enough to load your cart with less important items and use the method I just mentioned for holding your spot for that item you want so badly.

Now if you are not so lucky to wait indoors for those items then you will need much more. Depending on how popular your item will be this season you may need to arrive the night before and camp out. I'm not one for staying over night, I've never wanted any of the deals that much. However, in this case you can never be too prepared. You will need to bring a tent, sleeping bags or blankets, pillows, seating, flashlight, hand warmers, entertainment (possibly hand held games or a deck of cards), coffee and lots of it, and snacks. Make a list of everywhere you want to go and put it in the order of importance and also remember to take your money, checks, or credit cards. I know it sounds stupid but people do forget to bring their wallets and purses with all of the other things to remember. Make certain all of these items are as compact as possible and you will need that second or third person to come with you for sure this time. They will need to run all of this stuff back out to the car when it's nearly time to open those doors. Also remember to bring hand held radios or walkie talkies so you can communicate across the store with each other.

Men, some men enjoy going to these sales. Now I know some of you are scrunching up your face and thinking that I'm crazy. Well believe me, it surprised me too. I had a boyfriend who was just as excited to go and grab up those bargains as I was. I think he was more into it than me, but I also think after doing it once he didn't want to do it again. I also have a teenage son who get upset if I don't take him along. So ladies, remember to ask them they can be that extra hand you need and you might need them to carry some large items. Fights do break out and I've seen them happen. People are always fighting over which line they are supposed to be in and who got there first so men come in handy for this too especially if you don't have a taser.

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