How to survive Black Friday

Black Friday is the Friday following Thanksgiving Day traditionally marking the beginning of the Christmas shopping season and, in my opinion, the best shopping day out of the year.

This day is like fighting in a scaled-downed war where your enemies are other shoppers fighting for the best deals available. (I'm a competitive person if you couldn't tell.)

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My war stories include waiting in line at a Best Buy for nine hours in 40 degree weather for a $200 laptop originally priced at $600 and being bum rushed at Toys "R" Us and H-E-B Plus in previous years.

The following is a quick guide with tips to help you learn how to survive Black Friday and walk away with the best deals.

Plan Ahead

Read ads for stores that come in the Thanksgiving edition of newspapers to get an idea about what sales are available this year. This is the best way to figure out which stores you want to go to and decide what you really want to buy.

There are multiple websites online that post advertisements early. They are a great place to view ads.

Going unprepared to any store during Black Friday is a big mistake that I once made and never will again. I arrived merely 30 minutes after the opening of a Toys "R" Us only to be greeted with a checkout line a mile long, and I didn't even know what I wanted to buy there.

It was a chaotic experience walking through aisles tightly packed with shoppers and empty shelves and all the good deals were gone.

To avoid these situations, find out what you want to buy way ahead of time and make a beeline for it, pay as quickly as possible and get out quickly.

Research before you buy

The best thing about planning ahead is that it allows you to comparison shop and learn more about the product you want before you buy it.

Don't be fooled into buying something that's advertised at a price that sounds too good to be true because it might actually be a dud and therefore a waste of money.

When you come across an ad for an item you want, go online and read reviews for that product.

Find out if it's actually worth braving the Black Friday crowds and your hard earned money. Bad reviews are a red flag that the store is just trying to get rid of a bad product that isn't selling well.

Arrive early

This perhaps is the most important tip I can give you. It doesn't matter how much planning and research you did beforehand. If you arrive one or two hours before a store's opening the chances are slim you are going to get what you want to buy.

Make sure you double check the times stores open before you go and check out the layouts of stores before Thanksgiving.

Black Friday, as silly as it sounds, is for the bravest shoppers, and they do not mess around when it comes to getting the best deals. So if you are willing to brave the crowds, remember the only way to shop on this busy day is to be prepared.