1. Sell your junk - Look around your house and take inventory of the things you either don't need or don't use anymore and sell them on eBay, Craigslist, or your local classifieds. You will be surprised with what you can get for items like old clothes, furniture, appliances, CDs, DVDs, etc.
2. Open a Christmas savings account - No, it's not too late as long as you contribute to it each week. When this Christmas is over, just continue saving for next Christmas. Just check out ING Direct for some of the most competitive high interest savings rates.
3. Buy gifts in bulk - Look for opportunities to purchase gifts in bulk. Not only will you save on shipping, but it also allows you to use larger discount coupons because of the minimum purchase requirements. This doesn't mean just buy multiple quantities of the same item, but also applies to multiple items from the same online store.
4. Buy gifts for hours of pleasure - Give a magazine or newspaper subscription. It doesn't cost much and provides hours of enjoyment each month. Check out Best Deal Magazines for a huge list of magazine subscriptions with discounts up to 85% off the newsstand price. A subscription to The Wall Street Journal makes a very nice present to a college student.
5. Buy pre-owned or refurbished - Buying "new" really doesn't matter that much when buying items like books, movies, CDs, video games, etc. Check out stores like Alibris and SecondSpin. You'll save 50% or more without any loss of quality. For other items such as electronics and appliances, consider buying it refurbished. Practically all the factory direct retailers offer refurbished items now. Plus, they back these items with their own manufacturer's warranty. To name a few, check out Dell, HP Home, Apple, Abt Electronics, and RefurbDepot for these refurbished deals.
6. Make your own gifts - Making your own gifts are not only cheaper, but can also be more meaningful. Some ideas are making your own Christmas ornaments (Michael's), recipe books (Shutterfly), calendars (Snapfish), scrapbooks (S&S Worldwide), fresh baked bread (Cooking.com), & personalized gifts (PersonalizationMall).
7. Create your own Christmas cards - Create a photo card or design your own Christmas card for that extra touch. Save by printing in bulk from an online printer such as VistaPrint. Also, consider sending postcards this year instead of a folding card. Not only is it cheaper to print, but it's also cheaper to mail!
8. Conserve energy - This is often the thing that gets overlooked when it comes to saving during the holidays. Everyday things such as turning off lights and lowering the temperature on the thermostat are obvious, but one thing that is not so obvious are the Christmas lights. Replacing your existing Christmas lights with LED lights provide as much as 80% in energy savings. Just check out Christmas Lights Etc for everything related to Christmas lights.
9. Stay in this year - Don't go out. Entertain at home. Get out the cards and board games. Have a family movie night. Consider a Netflix subscription. With their new service you can instantly watch and rent movies right from your Tivo or computer.
10. Check for double and triple coupons - The best way to find out is to visit your local grocery store's website and subscribe to their alerts. Once the promotion begins, just visit CouponShack.com to print out your grocery coupons.
11. Plan ahead on your meals - Go ahead and decide on your Christmas menu. Make a list of all your ingredients and start stocking up now whenever you see a coupon for an item or a sale on the item. Stock up on pantry and freezer items now and perishables later.
12. Early doorbusters - Doorbusters are not just for Black Friday. Retailers are offering these doorbuster deals early. Keep CouponShack.com bookmarked for updates on all the early doorbuster deals.

As you'll see from from our timer on the home page, there's only about 14 days left until Black Friday. That means only 14 more days until the entire country simultaneously converges on all of the most popular retailers. Hopefully everyone has studied up and done their homework so the day doesn't have to be any crazier than it already will be. By homework I mean having a plan and taking the necessary steps in ensuring that the day goes by as smoothly as possible (if at all possible!). Taking on Black Friday without a plan is like walking into a gauntlet. It's very important to be prepared by knowing who you're shopping for, where you will be doing your shopping, and what your budget is. Sit down and actually write these down. List all the stores you plan on visiting, then beside each store list the names of family and friends which can be shopped for at that particular retailer. This will allow you to efficiently shop for everyone on your Christmas list, and it eliminates frantically running around or having to go back to a store you've already been to. And as always, it is important to have, and remain within, a budget. The best way to make sure you don't overspend is by carrying cash and leaving the plastic at home.

You should also be sure to check all your newspapers and catalogs to see which stores actually have the best deals. Stop by CouponShack's Black Friday Page where you'll find newspaper ads to all of the most popular Black Friday retailers, Black Friday shopping and savings tips, and some great Black Friday Deals and coupons that are available online. Remember, the majority of retailers open extremely early and CouponShack has a list of store hours for Black Friday so be sure to check it out and beat the crowd.

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!