By Andrea Peña

It is that time of year again. It’s the season of holiday cheer and Black Friday shopping. Every year millions of people go out the day after thanksgiving to go shopping. What people don’t know is that if you do not prepare you will not get the most out of your experience.

Before going out you should think about what you are looking for; whether it’s a gift or if it’s for yourself, make a list. It will make things much easier for you.

“What I like to do is make a new board on Pinterest, specifically for Black Friday, that way I can see exactly what I want and I’ll have the board forever and I can refer back to it,” said Rebeca Montgomery.

The next step would be to look at the ads. Stores have provided Black Friday ads for people weeks in advance to show where the best deals are. If you do not get the newspaper you could always go online and find the ads for any store you want.

Larger industries such as Walmart, Target, and Best Buy seem to offer the best deals. However, every year many people wait in line at the mall to see what specials are going to be offered. These inexperienced Black Friday shoppers are usually disappointed with the lack of certain store involvement on Black Friday. As many have disappointingly experienced from standing in lines outside the mall on the bleak Friday morning, most stores in the mall have the same sales that they do one every other day of the year.

The new Tejon outlets will also be having Black Friday sales in which they open at 8pm on Thanksgiving, and they will be open for 28 hours straight. This month they are having holiday giveaways which consist of four 1,000 dollar gift cards to the outlets. However, the Tejon outlets’ website does not show the type of sales the stores will be having on Black Friday.

Jordan Sousa, a former Walmart employee, gives helpful advice for people who enjoy the madness of black Friday.

“Make sure you’re buying the exact model of what you want and for the price you were told, because things get disorganized and put in the wrong spot,” said Sousa.

For some people, Black Friday is not worth the lack of sleep or standing in long lines for hours on end, but they do not want to miss out on these deals. For those who want those extra few winks, you can still participate in Black Friday but in the convenience of your own home.

“I am a cyber-Monday guy, but I also do black Friday; however it’s on the internet. I research before I shop. I once put my email in to receive black Friday ads and actually they sent me all the ads a month in advance and I just skim through them to find what I’m looking for,” said Bull Barron.

However, if you do want the magical experiences of Black Friday, make sure you research the stores that are actually having bargain sales. It would be a shame to get to a store that has the item you are looking for, but is marked at full price. I am sure if you researched, you would have been able to find a better deal somewhere else.

“I heard on the news that the best deals are not on Black Friday, that the best deals are actually Sunday, Monday and Tuesday before Black Friday. But for tips of advice for Black Friday, I recommend that you wear your tennis shoes and a sweatshirt,” said Rocio Sanchez

This year’s best deal is a 50 inch screen TV for 200 dollars at Best Buy. It was reported that two women have been standing in line for this awesome deal since the beginning of November.

If you do not research on the best deal and just go out on Black Friday, you may be setting yourself up for disaster. Most likely you will get distracted with all the other specials and in the end spend more money then you were hoping to.

It is crucial to prepare and research ahead of time before entering any store on Black Friday to make the most of your time and money. Happy shopping everyone!