Collier usually begins watching for Black Friday information online in mid-October. Blackfriday.com is a favorite of hers -- the site offers Black Friday ads and cash back on certain purchases -- but she won't forgo in-store shopping for online Cyber Monday deals. She prefers the in-person rush.

A few years ago, with a large outlet mall as her target, Collier and her mother could not find a parking spot at 10 p.m. on Thanksgiving night. So they drove out of the parking lot and found a hotel parking lot behind the mall where they could leave their car.

"The mall was at the top of a hill, so we started hiking, literally," Collier said. At the top of the hill, they were suddenly faced with the town's drainage ditch. In order to make it to the Coach store, which was offering everything at 50% off, "we had to climb down the drainage wall and back up the other side," she said. "We laughed our way through our desperation and got to the mall."

And at 5 a.m., loaded down with bags full of Black Friday loot, she and her mother climbed back up the stone drainage wall on hands and knees.

Anything for a bargain.