BLACK FRIDAY SURVIVAL GUIDE

For serious shoppers, the day after Thanksgiving has become a bonus national holiday. If you’ll be braving the crowds on Black Friday for the first time, here’s what you’ll need to do.

Set your alarm clock: If you want a crack at the best deals, you’ll need to hit the stores when they open. Hours vary by store, but you can expect to be out well before dawn.

Wear comfortable clothes, sensible shoes: You need to be able to move fast and efficiently. Dress in layers, so you can adjust your wardrobe as you go from frigid cold outside to broiling body heat inside.

Read your newspaper: Thursday’s Times Free Press will be packed with ads and inserts alerting you to deals at hundreds of stores. Keep those ads handy to reference for price checks and store hours.

Have patience: If you’ve never ventured out to an electronics store at 5 in the morning on the day after Thanksgiving, you may be surprised by how long the lines are, so try to remember that the spirit of the season should extend to your fellow shoppers. And be especially nice to the associate ringing up your sale. The people who brave the crowds on the other side of the cash register appreciate your patience.

— Compiled by Lisa Denton

BARGAIN HUNTING TIPS

Major retailers nationwide are lowering the cost of merchandise in an effort to get shoppers to spend money during a tumultuous economy.

Many toy retailers, including Wal-Mart, KB Toys, and Target are lowering the cost of popular toys, including Barbie and some Hot Wheels packages, according to media reports.

Kohl’s announced this week its “25 Deals of Christmas” initiative, a new program designed to help customers get more for their money during a difficult economy, a news release noted.

But for the budget-minded shoppers, about.com offers the following tips to help shoppers stay debt-free:

1. Start early: You’ll feel less pressure to buy at any price.

2. Shop second-hand stores: Thrift stores, yard sales, flea markets and other second-hand sources offer prices well below retail.

3. Skip the Christmas cards: They’re nice, but the cost can add up.

4. Skip gift wrap: It adds as much as $5 to the cost of a present.

Source: About.com

— Compiled by Karen Nazor Hill

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