Speaking of weird, all the early wintry weather is making it very hard to travel, so that’s challenging any last minute shoppers.  Consumers are also sticking to their budgets, according to recent surveys, so that’s really hitting retailers where it hurts.

Judging from all the blogs I’ve read and news reports coming in, the 24-hour trend is still catching on, so you can expect Macy’s, Walmart and Toys R Us to follow suit this week by staying open extended hours.

Be on the lookout for discount coupons too, many of which can be downloaded and printed right off a store’s website.  That’s what Toys R Us are doing.  Their stores are offering Deals Of The Day on today’s specials right on up to Christmas Eve on December 24th.  Look for these printable coupons under their Deals Of The Day on the company’s website www.toysrus.com

The big day has arrived, and Black Friday has the Big Deals you’ve been shopping for!

If you’re shopping for electronics like I am, you’ll appreciate these shopping tips from Consumer Reports on the big items being sought after this holiday season.  It’s always helpful to arm yourself with a little knowledge so you can avoid any buyer’s remorse later on.  Scoping out the prices online can help narrow down the number of stores you actually have to shop at too.

If you’re looking for any of these items, chances are you can probably find a better price by comparison shopping at least two other stores. 
blackfriday.info has items indexed by category like:
Cell Phones
Digital Cameras

Game Consoles like the Nintendo Wii, Sony PlayStation 3 or the XBOX 360 are really hot, and most stores are offering a bundle package with 3 or 4 games.

Laptop and LCD HDTV prices have really dropped with several models priced at or below $500.

Best Buy:  Samsung 32-inch 720p LCD HDTV $499

Circuit City:  Apple 8GB iPod Touch $229

Office Depot:  HP Laptop 15.4-inch, Dual-Core, 3GB Memory, 160GB Hard Drive, $349

Sam’s Club:  32-inch Vizio LCD 1080i HDTV $448

The video game version of the new hit Disney movie “Bolt” is already available for Nintendo DS, Nintendo Wii, Sony PS2, Xbox 360 and Toys R Us has it as low as $29.

Sears has a Sony 32-inch Bravia 720p LCD HDTV $499

Target is advertising Guitar Hero World Tour $59

Walmart has some incredible deals advertised:
Xbox 360 Thanksgiving Day Value Bundle $288
7-inch Digital Photo Frame with 2GB SD Memory Card Bundle $39

more info at http://www.blackfriday.info/online/

Here’s the other store openings I’ve heard and read of…

Stores opening at 5:00 am:
Best Buy
Circuit City
Old Navy
Sam’s Club
Sears
Toys R’ Us
Walmart

Stores opening at 6:00 am:
Kmart
Office Depot
Radio Shack
Staples
Target

Stores opening at 7:00 am:
Office Max

The online specials start much earlier, and some are posted now.  Not everything will be available until Black Friday officially starts.  Best Buy online specials will start at 1:00 am this Friday, with other stores following suit.  Be sure to check for the advance doorbuster specials; those will probably sell out first and fast.

www.blackfriday.info has more information on all these Black Friday deals, in-store and online.

So I’m going to share some of these advance sales with you, so you too can take advantage of the early sales being offered in the next week…

Walmart Sales Deals
like this one…SanDisk 4GB USB 2.0 Flash Drive $9.00

Best Buy Sales Deals
good bargain…Western Digital 1TB My Book Home Edition External Hard Drive (1 TeraByte!)
The usual price $259.99 – Black Friday sale price $149.99

Kmart also has all day Black Friday Deals that also are valid on Saturday.  Here’s a good example: Sony Bravia 32-inch LCD Integrated HDTV (720p) On Sale $599.99 Friday Nov. 28 and Saturday Nov. 29 only!

Target Stores are advertising the ASUS Eee 8GB PC Netbook Computer with Windows XP for $349.99 right now.  They also have Black Friday Sales Deals, but many have already started!

Find many more Black Friday deals at www.blackfriday.info