Every year the holiday season gets stretched longer and longer. In years past we wouldn't see holiday ads until Thanksgiving. Then it got stretched to the week of Thanksgiving. Now we're seeing holiday ads the day after Halloween. In the same sense, door buster bargains are now being offered earlier and earlier. Some retailers are trying to get ahead of the game by pre-announcing weeks in advance. In fact, there are quite a few Black Friday ads out already. This has spurred others to go ahead and release some door buster deals prior to Black Friday.

What retailers have done is offer these door buster deals over a short 2-3 day stretch, usually over a weekend, through their online outlet. Stores like Macy's have been doing this on a regular basis for a while, but in recent weeks have really stepped up their efforts. They recently had a up to 60% off sale on all home items plus free shipping and an additional 15% off on top of all of that!

Other retailers have taken a more extreme approach in offering door buster deals over a 3-4 hour window, usually around lunch time EST. The Great Indoors, an online outlet of Sears, did this recently from 9am - 12pm EST. They called it their "Shopping Spree Doorbusters". An example sale item was 20% off the lowest price of all Kenmore appliances.

A third approach by retailers is offer discounts on a later purchase. They're using this method to not only get the sale now, but to also secure a sale for the future. As an example, New York & Co has a 30% off sale going on right now through their online store. As a bonus incentive, for every $30 you spend, New York & Co will give you a $15 discount card towards your next purchase. This discount card is only valid in stores and only from November 11-15th. This approach is becoming more and more popular because it gets the customer to continue coming back throughout the holiday season.

Over the years, retailers have become more and more aggressive in their approach to the holiday season. This year, however, seems almost over the top aggressive, due to the current economic climate. That means we the consumer can expect to see some of the best deals appear not just on Black Friday, but for all of Black November. So, to help our consumers, we've created a section on CouponShack.com that highlights each doorbuster deal or promotion that we come across for the entire holiday season. Don't wait until Black Friday for doorbuster deals. They are happening now. Let us monitor the deals for you so all you will have to do is make your list, check it twice, and buy when the price is right!

The holidays are quickly approaching and this year will probably be one of the toughest to get through. Most of us are strapped for extra cash at this point, which makes it especially hard to travel over the holidays. However, if you do travel over the holidays, here are some tips to make things easier on your wallet.

If you are traveling by air, book your flight well in advance. Typically, flights are cheaper if they are booked 21 days or earlier before the departure date. Also, when you are booking your flight, don't just check the prices on the travel discounters. Checkout the airline's website too. Sometimes their prices are cheaper than the discounters. Another thing to keep in mind when booking a flight is compare the prices for each day of the week. Typically, weekend flights are cheaper than weekday flights because of the higher demand for business travel. Also, Sunday morning flights are typically cheaper than Saturday evening flights.

Once you've reached your destination, if you need to rent a car, check the rental agencies first to see who has the best deal. As a side note, weekend rentals are much cheaper than weekday rentals. I know Enterprise offers a 50% discount on their weekend rentals. Also, if you are booking online, print out the entire price list. Then choose an economy car as your rental. Once you are at the rental counter, ask about an upgrade. Most of the time the rental agent will give you a better deal than your printout on an upgrade.

If you are driving this year and are handy with your automobile, do the maintenance yourself. For maintenance tools and equipment, check out JC Whitney. Not only do they have good prices, but we almost always have a coupon for them. If you need new tires, check out The Tire Rack. There are great deals for standard (not winter) tires this time of year, especially if you buy them as a set of 4.

Finally, if you need a place to stay and no-one will put you up (joking) check out the deals with each of the major hotel chains such as the InterContinental Hotels Group or the Choice Hotels Group. Many of these major hotel chains offer early booking discounts of 20% or more. Early booking means as little as 3 days or as many as 21 days in advance, so it's not too late to book!