"Time-honored traditions" usually take time to become honored. But that no longer appears to be the case with Black Friday. The number of shoppers hitting the streets in the pre-dawn hours--and now, the pre-midnight hours--seems to have grown exponentially in recent years. But there are ways to be the tortoise and still beat the hare. Oh, I know, I know. You're thinking, "How in the world am I going to get a thingamajigger for whatshisname if I don't hit the bricks before the sun?" I guess it does sound ludicrous. After all, some of the deals I've heard about on the radio, seen on TV or the Internet, or read about in the newspaper are so awesome, we couldn't possibly expect them to stick around for very long. But maybe we're wrong.  U.S. News and World Report writer Kimberly Palmer has outlined some of the reasons why holding off on your Christmas shopping and avoiding the Black Friday insanity might just be the way to go. It's entirely possible that some of those awesome sales won't vanish by weekend's end. It's entirely possible you'll spend far more money than you intended to all the while thinking you're SAVING money. I was intrigued by her suggestions. Of course, better than half of Black Friday is already in the books, and I saw no shortage of vehicles populating the city streets throughout the day. But I also know there are those who pull the covers over their heads and wait for everything to calm down. And, now, maybe when they remove the covers they'll post this list on the refrigerator and play the waiting game themselves.

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