Amazon Prime Day has become Black Friday in July. It’s no longer just one day, with last year’s Prime Day going on for over 36 hours. It’s also more than just Amazon, with competing retailers offering discounts and price matches of their own. And while the opportunity to save has grown, so has the risk of wasting money some impulsive purchase you don’t need.

No matter where you shop, the key to coming out of Prime Day with your budget intact (and something useful, or at the very least fun, on the way) is a little bit of preparation and realistic expectations. No, browsing Lightning Deals at 4 a.m. is not going to net you a great 60-inch 4K TV at 50 percent off, but knowing what you want and the price to pounce on ahead of time will.

At Wirecutter, we’ll be sifting through the thousands of deals from Amazon and everyone else, posting only the best discounts (generally the lowest price we’ve seen in ninety days) on products our staff has reviewed and recommends on our deals page. You can also follow along on Twitter with the @WirecutterDeals account, or get the deals in your inbox via our deals newsletter.

Look for deals on small appliances, small electronics, and luggage

Amazon keeps a tight lid on its Prime Day deals until the event starts, but in Prime Days past, the best deals have been on kitchen appliances, luggage, and small electronics. Here are some of the biggest discounts we saw during Prime Day last year:

The Anova Culinary Sous Vide Precision Cooker, our pick at the time for the best sous vide machine, fell from a street price of $130 to $70 shipped from Amazon, and $72 from Williams Sonoma.

Our upgrade pick for the best cordless stick vacuum, the Dyson V8 Absolute Stick Vacuum, was discounted from $450 to $365. At the time, that was the lowest price we’d seen for non-refurbished model.

The Instant Pot Duo 6-Quart, our favorite Instant Pot or electric pressure cooker, dropped from $100 to an unheard-of $60 price.

Our pick at the time for the best carry-on luggage, the Travelpro Platinum Magna 2 22” Rollaboard, went from $240 to $200. That may not seem like a lot, but it was the lowest price we’d seen in months.

The best blender you can get, the pricey Vitamix 5200, dropped from $400 to $300.

The Jabra Move, a former budget pick for the best wireless bluetooth headphones, went from $80 to $40.

What wasn’t on sale: the latest high-end electronics and entertainment. Don’t expect deals on top quality 4K TVs, iPads, iPhones, video game consoles, or new video games and Blu-rays.