Black Friday Survival Guide

The day after Thanksgiving, typically known as Black Friday, marks the unofficial start of the holiday shopping season. The origin of its name, according to blackfriday.com, goes back to the days when accounting records were kept by hand. Red ink was used to indicate a loss while black ink was used to indicate a profit. Black Friday, then, is seen as the day when retailers go back into the "black." Retailers across the country have some of the best deals of the year on Black Friday, and shopping on this day is an experience in and of itself. The following is a list of tips to help you make the most out of your Black Friday.

Do your research

The biggest sale items usually sell out within minutes of a store's opening and without careful planning, it's easy to lose out on the best deals. The easiest way to make sure you get those in-demand deals is to browse the ads and decide which deals are most important to you. Websites such as www.blackfriday.info and black-friday.net are good places online to view deals for different stores. Decide which deals are the most important to you and consider which items are likely to be in stock after the morning rush. Larger items like TVs and appliances are likely to sell out faster than video games and DVDs, so plan to be at the stores with deals on the larger items first thing in the morning and then make your way to the other stores throughout the day. Make sure as you research sales that you also look at each store's hours of operation and plan accordingly.

Get some sleep

Black Friday shopping can be an exhuasting ordeal, so make sure you get enough sleep after Thanksgiving dinner to sustain you for the early morning hours of shopping. You won't get a full night's sleep unless you go to bed at 7 p.m., but you can still get less than a full night's sleep and be able to function on Black Friday morning. According to WebMD, a typical sleep cycle is about 90 minutes long, and during a good night's sleep we go through a few of these sleep cycles. Napping in 90 minute increments, long enough to let your body go through full sleep cycles, can be a great way to feel energized without a full night's sleep. So, after that big Thanksgiving dinner, aim to sleep for either an hour and a half, 3 hours or 4 and a half hours, and you should have just enough energy to shop to your heart's content.

Get to the stores EARLY

As mentioned before, stores usually sell out of the high-ticket sale items like TVs and appliances early. Most of the time, these items sell out within the first 5 to 10 minutes the store is open. If you want to be one of those lucky people to get the best deals, you have to get to the store early and ensure that you are one of the first people inside when the store opens. This usually involves waiting in line outside of the doors, so mentally and physically prepare yourself to stand in the cold for as long as necessary.

Take advantage of sales associates

When you finally enter the store, the best way to ensure that you find and get the items you are looking for is to ask a sales associate to point you in the right direction. The employees of any given store will probably know exactly where the big-deal items are, and asking for directions can save you time and ensure that you get those items sooner than the people who wander the store in a frenzy without a specific direction. Sales associates should be plentiful, and they will most likely be more than willing to help you find what you need. Be a respectful shopper

Shopping on Black Friday should be fun, but the fun can easily be ruined by people who push and shove others to get what they want. Don't be one of these people. Last Black Friday, a Walmart employee was trampled to death by a stampede of customers rushing into the store. People will get riled up about the big deals on Black Friday,but no deal is worth compromising someone's physical well-being. If you find yourself in one of these stampede situations, be careful not to fall and try to keep a positive attitude. Also, when you get in the store, aside from respecting other shoppers, be sure to respect the store staff as well. Don't throw things around or drop things on the floor as you grab the items you want. Stores are going to look ragged enough after the Black Friday morning rush; don't add to the mess if you can help it.

Emotionally repare yourself to miss out on some deals

You might not get everything you want on Black Friday. Stores can only have so much of one item at a time, and even if you are in line before the store opens, it still doesn't guarantee that you will walk out of the store with exactly what you wanted. You might get angry, but don't take your anger out on other shoppers or sales associates. Shopping on Black Friday is as much about luck as it is about preparedness, and for some people, that's what makes it worthwhile.