Nicole McDonald knows how to budget, so much so she helps others with it.
"I teach budgeting, couponing, meal-planning and this time of year they're not real popular classes but when I hold them after the new year I get lots of sign ups," McDonald.
So how do you save money now, while making sure you're not looking into an empty wallet after this holiday season ends?
For McDonald, it's pretty simple. It's about budgeting and sticking to a list, even when those Black Friday deals look so good.
"You can very easily get sucked into, 'oh my gosh this is such a great deal I have to buy it now and I have to buy a lot of it and so the budgets can go out the window very quickly," says McDonald.
Your smartphone can help out too. The Shop Saavy app will let you know just where to go for the perfect item, whether it's in a store, or online.
"Allows you to compare prices across different retailers simply by scanning the barcode of your item. So if you want to quickly find who has the best deal, download the app for free, a great way to do some black Friday shopping and you'll find the lowest price closest to you" says Jonathan Thornduike, area sales manager, US Celluar.
Now if you're brave enough to venture out into the crowds on black Friday, the best deals are usually in electronics.
"People really look to this time of year to get a great deal on a television or a laptop or a phone or tablet. And we buy really deep into those categories on black Friday, so we definitely expect this department in particular to be popular," says Michelle Malashock, Walmart spokeswoman.
Regardless, you can often find the same deal online, that you can get in the store.
