As Black Friday approaches just over a week from today, you may be wondering where some of the best deals will be had. Sure, the usual suspects like Costco Wholesale Corp. (NASDAQ: COST), Best Buy, Inc. (NYSE: BBY) and Target Corp. (NYSE: TGT) will be offering huge discounts on the largest shopping retail day of the year. This year is different: the U.S. is in the midst of a full-blown economic funk. Consumers are not spending, retail prices are way down and layoffs are increasing. Will you be spending like a drunken sailor this holiday season?

Regardless of the precarious economic climate the U.S. and much of the world is in, retailers are not closing up shop for winter. There are still some great bargains to be had and people will shop for gifts this year, just at a much lower rate than in the past. Just how low a rate remains to be seen, but let's chew on some deals to whet the whistle: Best Buy if offering an eMachines desktop PC with 18.5" LCD monitor and printer for $299 and a Canon Powershot 10 Megapixel digital camera for $199, Target is offering men's cotton sweaters (your choice of neck style) for $10 and a Garmin nuvi 200 GPS system for $119, and CostCo is offering a VTech 3-handset cordless phone system for $39 and a Western Digital portable backup hard drive for $89.

Compared with normal pricing on all those items, there are savings to be had this year. Will you be out in your car early in the morning hours of Friday morning to snag one of these deals or perhaps another one? Human nature tells us that there will be those of you brave enough to trade time and patience for dollars. If you do take in some bargains this coming Friday, you'll be in a select group, as many of us will be reigning in purchases and will be spending extra wisely. The retailers will thank you, and hopefully their bottom line numbers will show your effort this season.