Best Black Friday shopping resources

It's the end of November and time to kick your holiday shopping into high gear!

Posted 3:07 p.m. Nov 25, 2013 — Updated 3:09 p.m. Nov 25, 2013

RALEIGH, N.C. — It’s the end of November and time to kick your holiday shopping into high gear! Here are my top Five Faves for Black Friday shopping resources to help you save the most amount of money with the least amount of craziness.

Keep in mind that Black Friday is no longer taking place only on the day after Thanksgiving. Starting as early as right now, you can score some Black Friday worthy deals and maybe avoid the crowds completely…unless you are a Black Friday junkie and can’t wait to shop with the masses!

1. BFAds.net: Here’s a fantastic online resource for viewing the Black Friday ads early so you can plan your shopping strategy. They have all the tops ads posted with ad scans as well as pre-Black Friday sales going on right now! The site is updated many times a day. They also offer a number of helpful buying guides including Top 10 deals for Target, Walmart, Best Buy and more! Sign up for their e-mails so you don’t miss any new deal info. They also have an app available for both iPhone and iPad.

2. Black Friday Deal Finder 2013 App from FatWallet.com: This free app allows you to find Black Friday, Thanksgiving Day and Cyber Monday sales.

Search deals by store, category, brand, price and doorbusters
Compare more than 100 major store ads with product and price details
Save your favorite deals to a Wish Lists and even share them via email or text with friends
Shop through to any store or directly from app via FatWallet Checkout (and earn cash back for some stores if you are a FatWallet.com member)

The app is available on Apple and Android devices.

3. RetailMeNot.com: Before your make any online or in-store purchase, you need to check out RetailMeNot.com for coupon codes. They have online codes, mobile show and save coupons and printable in-store coupons available for hundreds of stores. There have been many times where I was able to show a mobile coupon to a cashier that I found on RetailMeNot.com!

4. Amazon.com: Amazon.com is the one-stop shop location for a huge variety of deals running now through the week of Cyber Monday. Their official Black Friday Deals Week starts Sunday, Nov. 24, with sales all day, every day. The deal frenzy lasts through Cyber Monday week.

5. Drug Stores: Everyone knows that there are super sales at the major retailers during the week of Black Friday and Cyber Monday. What many shoppers do not realize is that the major drug stores including CVS, Walgreens and Rite Aid all offer excellent in-store Black Friday deals on health and beauty products, food items, paper goods and more! You’ll find many Free-After-Reward deals this year including Orbit and 5 gum, Hershey’s candy bars, GUM toothbrushes, Colgate toothpaste, Glade Plug-ins, Advil, Sparkle paper towel, Starbucks Refreshers, Visine, laundry detergent and more! Many of the freebies and good deals from the drug stores will make great stocking stuffers. Most of the drug stores start their best Black Friday deals on Sunday, Nov. 24, so check the WRAL Smart Shopper blog for a Black Friday Deals list for each of these drug stores.

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