Don't fall for these Black Friday deal traps

In my continued search to save you time and money, the key to saving a lot of cash this Black Friday is knowing what retailers have planned for Cyber Monday.

1. Cyber Monday will be better than Black Friday this year for the first time ever. I've been hunting deals for more than a decade and while we saw the start of this trend last year, Cyber Monday will bring steeper discounts to the table this year.

2. More people will shop Cyber Monday which means bigger deals. Based on my deal lists last year, I saw a 105% increase on Cyber Monday over Black Friday. Last year, 92 million people shopped on Black Friday while 131 million people shopped on Cyber Monday. That trend is expected to continue this year.

3. Don't fall for every ad-scan detail. Many stores advertise items they'll barely have in stock.

4. Be patient and you may save more on Cyber Monday. Last year stronger, better, store-wide clothing sales appeared on Cyber Monday, for one of the first times beating out the Black Friday offerings. Stores that were offering 40% off site-wide Black Friday had 50% off Cyber Monday. Many other shopping categories will see similar discounts.

5. Don't assume the prices in-store Black Friday are the same online. Also, aimless browsing and Google does not get you the most deals. If you want access to the most deals in the country before anyone else, you need a strategy and for that, check out the next point.

6. Cyber Monday does not have the same Black Friday stock issues. Since stores are not tied to ad-scans, they can shift merchandise and offer great reductions throughout the day.

7. Appliances, gaming bundles and television deals are all better Black Friday. While we will see deals from all of these categories, Black Friday in-store or online is your better way to go.

8. Watch for strategic product placement in-store Black Friday. Stores do strange things with items of questionable quality and huge discounts, placed beside or near items you actually want.