The holiday season is already upon us, a reminder that those of us who need to purchase gifts should get our butts in gear unless navigating a packed mall is our idea of a good time.

While Black Friday is a the most publicized shopping day of the year and still one of the best times to pick up deals on electronics, friends-and-family events remain one of my favorite times to buy gifts. Traditionally shoppers would have to spend precious time making new friends and rekindling old relationships to get invitations to special friends-and-family events, but the Internet has changed all of that.

The users over at Slickdeals.net have taken it upon themselves to pull together the most detailed list of friends-and-family deals to help you to get the most bang for your buck!

Here are a few of the "Friends and Family" offers currently available.

• Beauty.com
• Bloomingdale's
• Sears
• Eddie Bauer
• Banana Republic, Gap, Old Navy
• Christmas Tree Shops
• Cole Haan
• Cost Plus
• Crazy 8
• Gymboree
• Harry and David
• Joann
• Kmart
• Kohls
• Lane Bryant
• Mandalay Bay
• Sephora.com
• The Limited

There are already over 20 stores offering discounts to friends and family members, with discounts ranging from 10 to 50% off! The full details for these deals, as well as coupons, are available at Slickdeals.net.

Many of these friends-and-family offers can be used online as well as in your local store. Be sure to check the restrictions and times as most of these deals are only good for a few days in November. Additionally some stores, like Sears, have a special after-hour's event just for friends and family. Finally, don't worry about making up an employee name to whom you are third cousin twice removed; once you have the coupon, the stores couldn't care less how you got it.

Daily Deal for ??????????????-Eddie Bauer Swiss Army Knife, Explorer Multi-tool, regularly $49.99, now on sale for $25.

I feel naked without a pocket knife, and the Swiss Army Knife is my blade of choice. With all the nifty options such as a working scissors, toothpick, tweezers and nail file, I find mine indispensable.

Now Eddie Bauer has cut the price of the Explorer model in half. This version includes 16 tools; can opener, Allen screwdriver, large and small knife blades, magnifying glass, large and small blade screwdrivers, corkscrew, awl, scissors, toothpick, tweezers and a hooky thing that I don't know the purpose of.

The deal is part of Eddie Bauer's twice-a-year Ultimate Sale.

The daily deal for June 20, 2008 is men's t-shirts at Eddie Bauer. You can't buy a t-shirt on the boardwalk at the Jersey shore for less than $20 nowadays, so these seem to be a real steal for $9.99 reduced from $16.50 to $19.50.

The short-sleeve classic pocket tee is available in 14 colors in small through XXX-large, regular and tall sizes. The short sleeve classic tee (no pocket) and sleeveless tee are also available for $9.99. Several others styles are also available for $14.99.

Eddie Bauer is one of those catalogs that sends you teaser sales throughout the year hoping you'll take the bait, but if can hold out for a real sale like this one-their "ultimate sale," it's worth the wait. Sales in other departments also turned up some finds, including some cute sundresses, and the clearance section is worth a peek too for deals up to 65% off original prices.

In this economy, anyone who checks the market and/or gas prices regularly would do well to keep a flask full of something on hand at all times -- if they can afford one.

Luckily The Sportsman's Guide is offering 2 7 ounce Eddie Bauer flasks for $5 with the code SB114. Shipping is another $5.49, but that's still a hefty savings off the $30 sticker price.

And with the "Eddie Bauer" label emblazoned on the front, you won't look too pathetic. It's better than "Faded Glory."