With every passing moment, we are quickly approaching the Super Bowl of shopping — Black Friday! Perhaps you are getting a little anxious right now just thinking about it. We all love brawling with other shoppers over toilet paper, surviving below zero temperatures in a tent city, or knocking doors down to snatch up unbelievable deals. What if I told you there’s a better way? A smarter way, where your third cousin removed won’t punch you in the face for that 70″ flat screen TV.

Behold, my fierce shopping warriors, the ultimate door busting guide:

1. Start Thanksgiving day

10 of the top 15 retailers are opening their doors on Thanksgiving day. The 2 standouts this year are Walmart and Kmart who will be open early Thanksgiving morning (6am) so you can get some exercise in before you gorge yourself full of saturated fats later in the day.

Another 8 retailers will open their doors that afternoon sometime between 2-6pm. This is an ideal scenario for those of you who need to get that turkey sandwich in your system for lunch and power through the rest of the shopping day.

Many retailers that are open on Thanksgiving day have early openings on Black Friday. The good news is, if you’ve followed my plan, you’ve already been there and shopped the best deals. Do yourself a favor and take advantage of Thanksgiving day hours. If you don’t get to all 10 of the retailers that day, that’s okay. Just pick your favorites so you don’t have to fight the early crowds on Black Friday.

2. Go to sleep. Don’t shop.

Many retailers are going to be open for some or all of Thanksgiving night. In fact, the majority of them (8 of 15) plan to be open after midnight. I’m not sure why these hours are available to shoppers. Who really needs to buy a $10 toaster oven at 3am when you could have gone at 5pm on Thanksgiving day or 5pm on Black Friday?

My recommendation is use this time to sleep. Heal your wounds, count your savings, and get some rest so you’ll be ready for battle the following morning.

3. Wait for Cyber Monday

If you missed that elusive door buster, or you were trampled by a mob of crazed shoppers and in a semi conscious state, you should consider waiting for Cyber Monday to finish your shopping journey.

Deals for Cyber Monday are already popping up and you can do that from the comfort of your own home. Take advantage of this convenience for anything you may have missed in stores. In some cases, Cyber Monday deals may be even better than in store sales so scan the market ahead of time and be ready to add items to your cart the instant they appear online.

In the end …

To get the most door busting deals, shop on Thanksgiving so you don’t have to fight the early Black Friday crowds. Spread out your shopping time so you can increase the number of store openings you attend. This is generally the best time to shop because limited quantity door buster sales are still available.

Use the Boring Dollar store opening guide and schedule your trips. Shop responsibly and good luck — you cost savings crazed warrior!

If you have a Black Friday tip everyone should know, please share in the comments below!