Black Friday falls on the first Friday after thanksgiving. It is considered the beginning of the christmas shopping season. 

You can find the best deals of the year on Black Friday, or you can find yourself empty handed heading to Goodwill for last minute christmas presents.

There are several things you can do to plan ahead for Black Friday. You definitely want to find the best deals, which doesn't always mean the best prices. And you want to choose just one store and be there early. DON'T BE LATE!

Finding the best deals on Black Friday is far from easy. Just because you found the best price, does not alway mean you found the best deal!

Let's say that you are looking for a laptop computer for your son this Christmas, you find two stores offering the same laptop. One store advertises the laptop for $700.00, while the second store puts the laptop on sale for $650.00. Which is the better deal? Well, at this point the second store has the best deal, but...

Here's a few things to look for:

1)Always check the fine print, there's usually plenty of it! You may find that you have to pay $800.00 for the laptop at the second store, and then you get a mail-in rebate which brings the price down to the advertised price of $650.00. Yes, you will still get the advertised price and savings however you must have the extra money upfront to get the laptop and then you will have to wait for the rebate.

2)Read the specs. Make sure both laptops are exactly the same, or at least very similar. Sometimes laptop A may be better than laptop B, which would explain the price difference.

3)See what is included. Now you notice that the first store includes a carrying case and a free mp3 player with the purchase of the laptop. The second store does not include any extras. Now if you payout the extra $50.00 you could get a case, normally say $90.00, and a second christmas gift(mp3 player)!

So, now which is the better deal?

It depends what you are looking for and how much you have to spend, but don't just look at price tags and go with the lowest price.

Now that you have found the best deals on everything you are looking, you need to choose ONE store to shop at. You can try rushing to multiple stores to get everything you need, but you will more than likely find that you were not the only one looking for those items!

You should try to find one store that carries everything you need and get there early!

Plan on being up bright and early! What's that saying... "The early bird gets the worm!"

Get everything together; drinks, snacks, sweaters, etc. You'll want to be in line about 3 hours before the store opens, maybe even more! Some of the years HOT items draw crowds for 10 hours or more! It never hurts to drive by the store each hour or so to see if a crowd is forming.

Well, now you should be a little more prepared for the holiday shopping season. Hopefully you will take in this advice and find everything you need for the best DEAL!

Good luck and happy holidays!