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The holidays are almost here again, and if you haven’t finished (or even started) your gift shopping yet, you’re in luck: it’s almost Black Friday.

If you don’t know what I’m talking about, Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, is the biggest shopping day of the year.  Malls are absolutely crazy on this day: expect huge crowds, long lines at checkout, and parking lot road rage… but if you’re willing to brave all that (and wear a helmet), you can get some amazing deals.

Black-Friday.net posts leaked ads and sale info for Black Friday ahead of time, giving you an edge over the other shoppers.  Come up with your plan of attack before hitting the stores by searching through the ads (which are organized by store and product category) and making a list of items you want to purchase–there’s even a feature on Black-Friday.net that lets you create one and either save it or print it out!  Then, when Friday morning rolls around, you’ll be able to enter each store and go straight for what you need, cutting down on the amount of time you’ll have to spend dealing with all the craziness…and the risk of losing that $9.99 42-inch plasma TV. Read More »

[It's pretty obvious that the average CollegeCandy reader has some very strong opinions. Opinions that she likes to share with everyone on the site. Sometimes with mean words. And threats. We love a strong woman (unless she happens to be charging at us with her fists raised), so we thought we'd give her a real forum to discuss her thoughts, feelings, and perspectives. Every Friday I'll be featuring a hot topic (like the NCAA's first transgender player!) and leaving it up to you, the readers, to duke it out. So, read it and get your debate on in the comments section below!]

Next Friday marks the start of the holiday shopping season with the single most anticipated shopping day of the year here in the good ol’ USA – Black Friday. A day when stores mark down items to ludicrous sale prices and people all over the nation line up in the early dawn hours to snag those bargains (and occasionally trample their fellow human beings). My guy refers to Black Friday as his favorite holiday – I don’t get it. So I think it’s time we talked this one out, ladies.

Is Black Friday a do or a don’t?

As I said, my man is an avid Black Friday-er, so just this once, I’m going to let him chime in. In his own words, “Black Friday is Christmas for every college student, unemployed citizen, and starving artist, If you’re living paycheck to paycheck or in debt, this is the day when you don’t have to feel like the child left behind. It’s a celebration of capitalistic consumerism, when everything is supposed to be affordable for everyone. You have the chance to redeem your self-enforced diet of Ramen noodles and buy an Xbox360. You have the opportunity to erase some of the classist line that has you treading in the waters of lower middle-class. If you’ve got the guts to go for the glory, you can achieve your heart’s desire (commercially speaking) on this day.” Yep, that’s what I live with. Love you, baby! Read More »

Besides leftovers and everyone’s inability to wear anything without an elastic waist band, the only thing anyone’s been talking about for the past few days is holiday deals. Every store around is slashing prices, including free goodies and even offering free shipping on any and all purchases. It’s a holiday shopper’s dream, but, being the compulsive shopper that I am, it is quickly becoming my worst nightmare.

Yeah, I enjoy a good deal as much as the next guy (I’m Jewish – isn’t that part of my heritage?), and purchasing all those Hanukkah gifts for less money is muy appealing, but I’m beginning to think all these sales will have me spending a lot more money instead of a lot less.

When it comes to holiday sales, I’m torn.

Love It:
Duh, putting things on sale means getting really great stuff for a lot less money. Especially things for myself. OK, so I know that this time of year is all about the giving, but how can you not shop for yourself when everything is so damn cheap!? A brand new TV for only $500? A new laptop for $400? 25% off everything at my favorite clothing store? Sign me up!

And what could be better than waking up every day to find emails advertising your favorite stores’ great deals? You don’t even have to leave the house to indulge in a sale; you just need to point and click your way to a seriously discounted BCBG dress. Heaven. Read More »

This time about Britney Spears.

Don’t miss out on these Black Friday deals!

Kevin Federline: skinny and douchey.

Uh, guys have more personality? What?

Stay motivated on that diet!

MTV is pissing off the Italians.

Now there is really no reason to get out of bed on Black Friday.

Part of me gets butterflies just thinking about racks and racks of discounted clothing. I’ve been dreaming of Black Friday since I woke up over the toilet in a Tinker Bell costume on November 1st; the cheap designer handbags, the plasma TVs, the stops at Cinnabon and Auntie Anne’s to refuel, the high of leaving the mall with all of my Christmas gifts and some money left in my bank account. There is just something about being in a mall on Black Friday that cannot be replicated.

Then reality sets in and I realize that while in a perfect world I would be skipping through sales racks, after finishing these freakin’ essays, traveling home and stuffing my face for an entire day, my (Queen-size!) bed is going to be much more appealing than lines at 4 am in the freezing cold. And don’t even get me started on those slow-walking old ladies that always get in my way.

That being said, I will remain in my pajamas and snag the deals I can from the comfort of my warm home as my mother serves me delicious leftovers. For those of you who will be joining me in cyberspace, here are the websites to put at the top of your bookmarks list to ensure you get deals just as good as those over-caffeinated, line waiters pummeling their way through mall crowds. Internet, I love you. Read More »

It’s the biggest shopping day of the season tomorrow. Black Friday, ladies (and gentlemen). The cutest and coolest little tech gadgets will be on sale all across the nation… alongside everything else. Are you ready? You better be! Everyone knows that you can’t go in there without a(n escape) plan.

The Black Friday shopping ground is a war zone and the only way to get what you want is to make sure that you KNOW what you want before you get there. So here’s a list of fun (and useful!) tech gadgets that you can and should get your paws on this holiday season.

1) Blu-ray player

So it’s been a year and we all know that HD players are pretty much dead. They lost the war in the heir to the DVD empire. Blue-ray movies are just sharper, have better sound and are all around sweeter. The Sony PS3 has a sweet Blu-ray player included in its package, which means you get 2 new toys in one. And Wal-mart has a pretty sweet deal on them, so that’s two toys for the price of one very cheap one.

2) Game Bundle packs

Speaking of the PS3, this holiday season is the perfect time time to upgrade to the next gen (or at this point, this gen) game systems. The hard to find Wii is in stock everywhere, and both PS3 and XBox 360 have dropped their prices. Many vendors or running specials for Black Friday where you can get not only the system, but a selection of games for a good price. Try Game Stop for the ultimate bundle deals.

3) GPS System

Everyone gets lost sometime. A GPS is a good gift for anyone that you know who drives; it’ll come in handy. Right now you can get one on the cheap and pack it up for the holiday. Pep Boys is running a special on them. Read More »