Black Friday is here! We've waited weeks for the big day to finally arrive. Our bellies are full from Thanksgiving dinner, and now it's time to fill our shopping carts. Retailers like Amazon, Best Buy, Walmart, and Target kicked off their sales weeks ago, but shopping on actual Black Friday brings surprise deals and extra markdowns.

For many of you, the turkey is probably already in the oven, and the appetizer noshing has begun. But in between bites — or while the commercials roll on today's NFL games — Thanksgiving Day is actually a great time to start your Black Friday shopping.

Ready for Black Friday? Here's what you need to know about the popular shopping day: Black Friday is one of the busiest shopping days of the year in the United States. The day takes place on the Friday after Thanksgiving, considered the unofficial start of the holiday shopping season.