Rejoice shopaholics! Black Friday is once again upon us. Before you head out on your shopping trip at 4am, check out of survival guide for surviving Black Friday. We almost guarantee that our advice will save you some hard earned cash.

Get a leg up on the competition. There are plenty of online coupon sites that publish advance notice of Black Friday bargains. Already you’ll find some awesome deals on www.walletpop.com, www.dealtaker.com, www.blackfridayads.com and more.  Most of these sites have the ability for you too see which products come with a rebate and which merchants offer free shipping.

Is the sale price advertised the best in town? Just because a retailer has the price slashed on a sales item doesn’t mean it’s the best in town. I recently spotted a refrigerator on sale at Best Buy where the price was dropped by $500. I then spotted a sales ad from hhgregg with the same refrigerator for $1 less; but wait there’s more! hhgregg also included free delivery and free removal of your old refrigerator. Now that’s a deal!

Can you buy it cheaper online? Cyber Monday is proving to be great competition for the brick & mortar retailers. Online retailers can sometimes sell items cheaper due to lower overhead costs. Look carefully and you’ll find many online retailers selling their goods tax free and with free shipping.

Are there coupon codes available? When making online purchases, perform a Google search to see if there are any promotional coupon codes available. Most sites have a place to enter a ‘promotional code’ on the check-out page. Check out www.savings.com, www.keycode.com,  www.couponcraze.com and more.

Use common sense and stay physically safe. OSHA recommends retailers have security personnel or police officers on site, but that’s not all. Stores expecting big crowds should use barricades, make sure local emergency services are aware of the event, use bullhorns to address the crowd, and be aware of the building’s maximum occupancy. This year, expect more stores to let shoppers in at a slow and steady pace rather than all at once.

A Google search for black friday safety returns numerous articles and blog posts on the risks shoppers and employees face on Black Friday. MSNBC reports that Wal-Mart for one has implemented many changes. Hopefully all retailers can keep their employees and shoppers safe and out of the ER.