The Christmas shopping season has begun and will kick into high gear next week, on the day after Thanksgiving. Black Friday. I’ve shopped on a number of Black Fridays successfully and am offering them to you. Happy shopping.

1. Make a list of everyone that you need to buy a gift for.

2. Do your research. Check out the ads before the day arrives. Decide which items you’re interested in and research the prices to find out what’s really a good buy.

3. If you’re shopping in the stores, line up as early as possible. Die hards are known to start lining up late the night before. Some specials only run for a few hours, so check if there’s a specific time frame items are on sale for.

4. Shop with a friend. Having a friend with you is great for company and to hold your spot in line if you need to take a bathroom break or get coffee or something.

5. Think comfort. Wear comfortable clothes and be prepared for weather. Also, bring a folding chair so you’re not sitting on the ground, and snacks.

6. Make a list of the items you want, in order of priority. No decisions should need to be made at the store, they should all be made ahead of time.

7. Be prepared when the stores open. Bring your shopping list, your gift list and the ads with you to the store. When the store opens, know where the sale items are located. Go for the higher priority items first. If you can buy two and you’ve got that friend with you they can go for one item while you go for another and you can help each other out.

8. Want to go to more than one store? Split the stores with a friend, relative or spouse. You do some, they do some.

9. Get gift receipts for EVERYTHING. After you’re home put them inside or tape them to the outside of every box. There’s nothing wrong with including a gift receipt with a gift. And if you need to return something you’ll be prepared.

10. Try shopping at brick and mortar store websites as well as online retailers. Every year I see more and more stores offer online specials on Thanksgiving and Black Friday, as well as Cyber Monday.

If you’ve got any other tips, feel free to share them.

Happy shopping!

There’s a new fast food restaurant in the US called Cereality. It’s a restaurant that serves breakfast cereals. Yes I mean regular boxed breakfast cereals, the kind you get at the grocery store. Their menu consists of a couple of options that are simply two cereals mixed together. There are already several of these restaurants open and more of them are planned. There’s even franchise opportunities for them. I can’t believe people would actually pay to eat out what they can eat anytime at home, and surely for much less money. I wouldn’t go to one of these. Would you? What do you think of this idea?

I’m sure most of you have been to a convenience store. I’m not a huge fan of convenience stores, but occasionally they are, well, convenient. One of themost popular convenience stores in my area, if not the most popular, is Wawa.

Wawa convenience stores are only located in the Northeastern US, in Eastern Pennsylvania, Central & Southern New Jersey, Maryland, Delaware and part of Virginia. There are 570 stores as of August 2007, with 236 of them located in New Jersey. Most Wawa’s are open around the clock, and a number of them are now selling gasoline. Every Wawa has coffee, and their is actually very good. My favorite is the French Vanilla Cappuccino. They also have deli/sandwich counters that offer sandwiches, soups and cold cuts. Their soups are always hot and each variety that I have had is very tasty.

If you’re ever in New Jersey and are in need of a coffee or quick bite for the road, this is a pretty safe bet. Happy traveling!