Ready For Black Friday Shopping Madness?

Two weeks from tomorrow (and in some cases two weeks from today on Thanksgiving evening) the Christmas shopping season officially kicks off with Black Friday sales at stores across the country.

Some shoppers already are staking out locations. As we told you on the show this morning, two California women already have set up camp outside a California Best Buy. Vickey Torres and Juanita Salas set up their camp sites on November 5 and are still outside the store. The sales haven't even been announced as of yet but they don't care. They're hoping for a great deal on a television. I like their odds.

Meanwhile, a new survey from BMO Harris Bank shows 39% of Illinois residents plan to spend more on Black Friday shopping than they did last year. Other highlights from the survey:

• 56% of Illinois residents plan to shop on Black Friday, and 58% will shop on Cyber Monday
• Illinois residents will  spend an average of $353 on Black Friday and $388 on Cyber Monday, which is less than the national average.
• 63% say they have a budget, but do not stick to it. Eighteen percent say they stick to a strict budget

As I told Riley this morning I'm very proud of myself. Thanks to some fantastic early deals I found online I've already purchased Christmas gifts for all of my nieces and nephews. This could be the earliest shopping I've ever done, but with a new baby in the house it probably makes some sense to get it out of the way.