Where will you be after the turkey has cooled off and the football game is on the TV while the chef is closing her eyes after a hard days’ work? Watching the game? Snoozing? Or … shopping?

Fortunately, my favorite deals start long before Thanksgiving. On Sunday, at CVS and Walgreens, where I plan to stock up on toothbrushes and candy for stockings, and pocket a few bucks by leveraging some coupons. In order to make a few bucks, you have to pair the freebies with coupons. There are a lot of coupons online that can turn these freebies into moneymakers. I’m not going to bore you by going down my list of what I’m getting at the major drugstores. Instead, you can check out the freebies yourself. I use Living Rich with Coupons for my matchups.

• CVS Pre-Black Friday Freebies
• Walgreens Pre-Black Friday Freebies

When developing your Black Friday shopping list, think of the upcoming year and any needs you anticipate coming up. For example, I’m buying picture frames at Michael’s that I won’t need for months, because I know that I’ll need them once Little Stapler has his next school photo. I’m also buying a $100 Old Navy gift card at CVS, and getting $25 back, because I know I’ll use it throughout the year during their semi-annual clearance.

CVS & Walgreens Black Friday Shopping List

The CVS Black Friday sale starts on Thanksgiving, so I’m going there before we head off to my mom’s for Thanksgiving dinner. Living Rich with Coupon’s list of Black Friday deals at CVS is here, and Walgreens is here.

Michael’s Black Friday Shopping List

After we get back from Thanksgiving, I’m stopping at Michael’s, which opens at 4pm. Now, don’t think that Michael’s is only for the crafter. You can get some great kids’ toys there — in particular, Michael’s has the best prices around for Melissa and Doug toys when they are on sale. This year, however, I’m going just for crafting and storage supplies.

Why Michael’s? Because on Thanksgiving and the morning of Black Friday, you can use a 30% off your entire purchase, including sale items coupon. Even though Michael’s always has coupons, this is the ONLY time you will find this particular discount, which is an awesome discount when you’re buying items that are already on sale. Saturday morning there is a 25% off coupon, but that’s less rare than the 30%.

Now, don’t make the mistake I did a few years ago, and assume that the circulars with the coupons will be available in store. Pick up a newspaper and get the coupon there. Otherwise, download the Michael’s app and it should pop up there. (The Michael’s app is awesome, because there is always a coupon and you don’t need to cut out that week’s coupon in order to use it — just open up the app).

Here’s my list:

• Craft Storage (60% off) — I’m looking for a good way to store LEGOs, a sewing basket, and storage for my cake decorating. Now that Baby is here, we are feeling a wee bit cramped, so I need to get organized.
• Holiday Decorative Boxes (50% off) — for the ornaments I’m giving nieces and nephews, and maybe some extras to hold candy / cookie treats for teachers and hostesses.
• Photo Frames (40-60% off) — these will be handy over the coming year, as we frame some of Baby’s photos and both kids’ school photos. (We have a gallery wall of all of Little Stapler’s school photos, so we always need a new 8 x 10 frame each year).
• Cake decorating novelties with a Christmas theme, so Little Stapler can help decorate a Christmas tree cake.

Other items that might interest you (but aren’t on my list this year):

• Cake decorating class for $15! Usually they’re on sale for $25. It’s also a great time to get the supplies for the class, because you can use that 30% off coupon.
• 50% off glass ornaments — great for a DIY ornament gift!
• 50% off Melissa and Doug toys (don’t forget you get 30% off of the discounted price)

Lowe’s Black Friday Shopping List

On Friday, I have a shorter list than usual because all of my Christmas shopping is done. When we get to Lowe’s, the Christmas season begins, because we’re getting …

• $19.99 — 5′ – 6′ Fresh cut Fraser Fir. This is the deal we seized last year, and it’s a price that can’t be beat.

Cue the Christmas music and hot cocoa. As a bonus discount, I bought a Lowe’s Gift Card at Stop and Shop when they offered 4x gas points on Lowe’s gift cards. It only saves me $1 on gas for the $25 gift card, but one dollar is better than no dollar.

Staples Black Friday Shopping List

Of course, Black Friday shopping would not be complete without a stop at Staples. It should come as no surprise what I’m getting.

• $0.01 — Staples multipurpose paper, after Rebate
• $0.01 — Kaspersky Internet Security, after Rebate (I’m giving this to my parents, who don’t have antivirus software on their computer!!!???)
• 5 iTunes gift cards for $10 each, which will qualify them for 15% off. I’m giving these to teachers at Little Stapler’s school.
• $9.99 — Duracell AA and AAA batteries, 24-pack. I’m going to get one of each, but I’m so sad I can’t score these for free anymore.

What’s on your list?!