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.

True story. Last weekend I went shopping with my daughters on both Saturday and Sunday. Saturday, I was dragged by my eight-year-old into a local Gap where she convinced me to buy her and her sister the cutest little spaghetti-strapped tank tops on sale for just $3.99 each.

The next day, after dropping some junk off at a Goodwill Superstore, I let them run wild through the aisles and pick out a few items (it's for a good cause, right?). This time my daughter picked out a used Gap tank top and the tag proclaimed a whopping $5.99 price.

The takeaway from this? It's not that you can't get a good deal at a thrift shop. We actually bought many more items that day. I purchased myself t-shirts with labels from J.Jill, DKNY and (yes) Gap. My younger daughter picked out an adorable pink dress. The find of the day was a Ralph Lauren buttoned-down shirt for my husband. Our whole bill came to $35. I'm not sure how it happened, but I think there is a color-coded system I didn't pay much attention to where you actually pay a lot less for items than they are marked.

No, the real lesson from this post is that we are only about halfway through peak summer heat and there are incredible bargains to be had on summer clothes on the racks at major chain stores.

So get out there and buy yourself a nice new t-shirt. It will set you back about the price of an ice cream cone and last a lot longer.

The Daily Deal for Friday, July 11th is this soft knit cotton pique polo from The Gap. It's regularly $29.50, but you can get it now for $4.99. It's selling out fast -- as I write this, they only have small and XXXXL left. So if you're friends with Michael Jackson or Ralphie May, you have an opportunity for a great gift item.

For more Gap sale items, click here. And remember, you can combine orders/shipping from Gap, Banana Republic, Old Navy and Piperlime.

It seems like a day for hubris and comeuppance in the corporate world. Dethroned New York governor Eliot Spitzer may be starting a "vulture fund," to make investment in distressed real estate projects. Meanwhile, Kenneth Lay's widow settled some fuss over her distressed real estate, a dispute over condo dues as the Enron debacle continues to have impact on Texas communities. And Donald Trump is also in the news, defending a golf course he wants to build in Scotland.

News nuggets you need to know today:

• Staples Buys Corporate Express for 2.65 Billion
• Gap May Shrink Stores to Save Money
• Why Did Food Sellers Treat Tomatoes Like Hot Potatoes?
• Abu Dhabi to Buy NY's Chrysler Building
• Beef Protesters Take Aim at McDonald's
• Raid on Kosher Meat Plant May Spike Prices
• Gay Marriage May Boost Ailing California Economy

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