Preparing for Black Friday

Are you preparing for Black Friday? I used to love getting up at 5AM and freezing my butt off to save a few dollars. My mom and I got her first computer on a Black Friday. I was also closer to 23 back then. Now at 33, my idea of fun seems to have changed. I look for ways to get Black Friday prices without the Black Friday lines.

One way that do that is to keep an eye on FatWallet.com. I found this thread for a Acer 10.1″ Netbook $199 at Target Starting 11/22 w/free Neoprene sleeve and actually picked one up. There were three other people there early. The netbook usual retails at around $289, so it’s a good savings especially with the free sleeve. I could have gone through more hassle and got the same computer at OfficeMax on Friday for $150, but I expect it to be a zoo as it’s the cheapest laptop at any store I know of. It wasn’t worth the savings of $40 (assuming the sleeve to be a $10 value). I hear that Target is restocking with the notebooks and that today is the last day of the sale. Perhaps they want to clear inventory for new Intel netbook chips or the ones that are going to run Windows System 7.

Another way that I try to avoid the lines is to shop online. Amazon is having Black Friday all week (wrap your head around that oxymoron). You might not think there are good deals on Amazon, but I see that they have Forgetting Sarah Marshall on DVD for $3.99 (click view Lightning Deals. Note: this deal will only be available for about an hour after I publish this. Don’t fret there will be more deals.) I’m keeping my eye on a deal that starts in about two hours as a gift for my wife. It was going to cost me $10 or so, but it looks like it might come in under $4 with the deals that Amazon is putting out there.

In the intersting of helping you out with your Black Friday plans here is a little mini-midweek Black Friday round-up:

• Holiday Shopping: Tips for Black Friday and Cyber Monday – Moolanomy gives you just what the title says, more tips for maximizing Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals.
• Tips For Shopping Black Friday And Cyber Monday – Free From Broke ads some more tips – with a little overlap of the Moolanomy articles.
• Black Friday Shopping Tips: Become a Sales Pro – Even more Black Friday Tips.
• Christmas Shopping ““ Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and Beyond – Yet more tips from Cash Money Life.
• Black Friday Bargain Shopping Guide – Sun actually gives you the information you need to shop on Black Friday. He tells you when stores open and what the best deals are.
• Black Friday Shopping Tips – Peter shares some good tips on how to get everything on your Black Friday list.
• Free Stuff on Black Friday 2009 – Madison just gives you the free stuff. I love the price.
• Black Friday Sales Are Here Again: A Quick History and Some Tips – PT Money gives some tips and the history of Black Friday.

Three other great resources are BlackFriday.info, BFAds.net, as well as Fat Wallet’s Spreadsheet.

I’m probably going to hit some out of the way store like Radio Shack. They got a deal on a 11.6″ Acer netbook ($250) that I think my mother-in-law would like. I want to see if the keyboard and screen is the kind of thing she’ll be able to live with.

What are your Black Friday plans. Let me know in the comments.