The thrill of the hunt is compelling, especially when your grocer's ads tout "BIG SAVINGS" on favorite holiday meal fixins.

But even if you're just shopping for your weekly groceries this weekend instead of the trimmings and trappings for turkey day, it's still tough to say no to a good sale. And with most of us on strict, self-imposed budgets because of the current recession, shopping on the weekend becomes an even bigger temptation, a time to say, "But I've been so good all week, I deserve a little splurge!"

Tossing sale items in your cart can blow your budget if you're not careful. "I find it hard to resist great sales, so I'll buy far more than we need or than I can fit in my freezer," says frequent sale-shopper, Barbara Nelson.

The Walmart Black Friday ad leaked out to many deal collecting sites earlier this week, but until yesterday they kept it offline under threat of legal action by the mega retailer. After the OK was finally given, the entire Walmart Black Friday ad has been posted and it contains a lot of deals. Best of all, you won't have to wait outside for any of the savings since Walmart will be open all night over Thanksgiving -- although you will have to wait until 5 a.m. to make your purchases.

Walmart's biggest Black Friday deals:

Get 20% off almost everything at Kodak.com during their family and friends sale.

Use code HOLIDAYS2009, which expires on Sunday, Nov. 22. The coupon is case sensitive so make sure you use capital letters. The discount will automatically be applied at checkout.

Kodak sells a lot more than cameras, like digital picture frames, video cameras, and printers. They also have a trade-in program if you are thinking about upgrading your equipment.

Caveats: the discount does not apply to disposable cameras, the KODAK OLED Wireless Frame, clearance, refurbished products, shipping, handling, or tax. Cannot be combined with other discounts.

Thanks, Josh!

If you are spending less on shopping this Black Friday you're not alone. A recent survey performed by Dealnews.com found that a quarter of shoppers are planning to spend less on Black Friday.

The survey further found that fewer people will be shopping on Black Friday as a whole and that women shop for other people on Black Friday, whereas men shop for themselves.

It's no shocker that men do more shopping on themselves on Black Friday, since I know few fellows who would brave a Black Friday crowded for anyone other than themselves.

Want to avoid overspending on Black Friday? An amino acid you ingest in Thanksgiving dinners with lots of carbs and turkey could help you fight off that urge to impulse buy, according to a study by two researchers from the University of Utah's School of Business.

Aril Mishra and Himanshu Mishra suspect that the effect is chemical. Turkey and other traditional Thanksgiving foods contain the amino acid tryptophan, which increases the levels of serotonin in the brain.

Serotonin is a neurotransmitter which aids the passage of messages through the brain, influencing many functions including sleep, memory, learning, sex drive, mood, and appetite. The body uses trytophan to make serotonin.

I am a self-professed recreational shopper. Always have been. Some people play sports competitively. Me, I shop competitively.

The thrill is in the bargain. Hunting it down, getting it in my sights and then moving in for the kill. I sharpened my elbows as a child in Daffy Dan's in New Jersey (mob aside, a reasonable state with no sales tax on clothing; are you listening California?) but have since refined my methods.

My current weapon of choice: coupons I find online. My trophy purchase mounted on the wall of my closet: a 100% cashmere sweater with the Sak's label still in it that I got for $5 at a thrift store in Malibu.

It was only a matter of time before my prowess reached the TV networks. I was asked by CNBC to take a camera crew along while I shopped. My terms: They don't get in my way.

In case you've been living under an enormous, soundproof rock this week: Sarah Palin is back. And she's everywhere you turn, promoting her tell-all biography, "Going Rogue," and addressing the hot-button subjects of Levi Johnston, Katie Couric and the infamous hundred-thousand-dollar wardrobe.

Concerning that last subject, the New York Times turns to a voice that we actually haven't heard before: the fashion stylist who engineered Palin's campaign trail wardrobe. In a fascinating sitdown, Lisa Kline explains away some of the bills.

In the world of advertising, the Tropicana disaster of 2008-09 is already legendary.

The orange juice container redesign by controversial brand guru Peter Arnell eliminated the familiar straw-in-an-orange image in favor of a photo of a glass of OJ. This killed the brand recognition developed over many years, resulting in a 20% drop in sales and the loss of millions of dollars within two months. Tropicana beat a hasty retreat to the old design.

Now, according to Advertising Age, Coca-Cola is taking a similar risky step, re-branding its Minute Maid line of juices. The company wants to eventually harmonize the images surrounding the brand and the others it owns, including Del Valle, Andina and Cappy.

The new orange juice design features whole oranges, slices, and leaves to suggest the groves from which it comes. As you'll see from the pictures above, the new packaging has more green, and the blue is gone. I like it.

Sears and Kmart are going on the third week of early Black Friday promotions, with door-buster deals all weekend leading up to the actual Black Friday.

To lure more traffic on Black Friday, department store chain Kohl's is allowing customers to create their shopping lists online.

Nov. 22-27, shoppers can compare shop, print out ads, prices and photos of items on their Holiday wishlist, the Wisconsin-based chain said in a press release. It would be just like creating a wedding or baby shower registry, and the online list would help shoppers focus on things they need rather than indulge in impulse buying.

Move over AA, NA and other 12-step programs, now there is Debtors Anonymous for those addicted to overspending. Patterned after Alcoholics Anonymous, DA is a 12-step program to help spenders recover from chronic debt and compulsive spending.

In DA, the first step for recovery is accurately tracking every dime, nickel and penny of spending for 90 days. The new DA member is then paired up with two or more veteran members who assist in formulating a new plan for spending and budgeting. The weekly meetings offer support and encouragement to members, particularly if there is a spending relapse.

With Black Friday almost here and Cyber Monday just around the corner, there's no denying that the holiday season is upon us; and for many people that means online shopping. For Identity Thieves and scammers, though, this is the time of year to roll out new ways of going after your identity, your money and your credit.

WalletPop has already warned you about the numerous ways that online scam artists are trying to dupe you with fakes, but we wanted to make sure that you are as educated as you can be when it comes to safeguarding your information and money. We went to three industry experts to find out how to stay safe on Cyber Monday and through the rest of your holiday shopping.

To get a better idea of just how much phishing and identity theft scams will increase in the next month, we spoke to Lyn Oakes, Chief Marketing Officer of Trusted ID.

"We do expect that there will be more traffic being generated by identity thieves because of the holiday season than has been in the last several months," Oakes said in a phone interview. "We think phishing emails are going to rise."

News from Illinois and other Midwestern pumpkin farms has me worried I'll have to add more security to my front walk. My front yard, relieved this spring of its burden of grass, is a wild mess of corn stalks, bean and tomato vines, sunflowers, asparagus ferns, and pumpkins. My kids have already eaten one pie and two loaves of pumpkin bread from the gourds grown right here. Come December, we could be the only ones for blocks eating pumpkin pie; food giant Nestle says a rainy Midwestern growing season means they've lost what was left of a small harvest; and there will be no more Libby canned pumpkin shipped after Thanksgiving.

Nestle controls an incredible 85% of the U.S. pumpkin crop destined for canning, and it's located on 5,000 acres of farmland in Illinois. The crop was looking 15% to 50% smaller than normal at the end of the summer; and then came the fall rains, which destroyed what remained. Typically, Nestle cans the late bloomers from the 2009 crop in October and November to stock shelves for Christmas and the first half of the next year.

Forget the 5 a.m. start, Toys R Us stores will open at midnight on Thursday, Nov. 26. Just in time to finish digesting that Thanksgiving meal.

As Toys R Us points out in an announcement, that's 25% more time to grab Black Friday deals.

Toys R Us' Big Book is out and most Black Friday deals are leaked but the toy retailer will make a preview available of more than 100 previously unadvertised prices on Black Friday deals as of 12:01 Wednesday, Nov. 25, and start shopping in stores just 24 hours later.

But while stores will be open, some but not all, of the doorbusters won't begin until 5 a.m.

Zhu Zhu hunters be appraised, the first 100 people in line on Black Friday will each be given a ticket for the opportunity to purchase a Zhu Zhu Pet (with a limit of one per household). Toys R Us, said in a statement that 1000's of Zhu Zhu Pets will be arriving regularly throughout December.

It's a promise from Santa Claus, so it has to be good: The global swine flu pandemic won't stop him from delivering presents this year.

"I swear that Christmas will not be canceled this year," Father Christmas told Finnish national broadcaster YLE, explaining that many children were worried he would catch swine flu, according to an ATP story.

And in what may not look like the kindest move after a child has left his lap, Santa Claus is pulling out the hand sanitizer and tissues more than ever this holiday season in an effort to ward off swine flu and the seasonal flu.

In yet another sign of how lives are changing in the fight against H1N1, mall Santas are being asked this year to get vaccinated, use hand sanitizer often, wash their beards regularly and bleach and wash their white gloves nightly, according to a story in the Vancouver Sun.