fred. say the sales don't sneak into your favorite department store. >> they don't? >> in the dead of night to change the prices for the upcoming sale. the stores have to prepare for that. in many cases, about 6:00 p.m. the day before. so go after 6:00 p.m. -- >> check it out. every store doesn't do it. >> exactly. >> go after 6:00 p.m., and you've got at least a 50/50 chance that if you pick up something that you want to buy and they scan it, it will come in at the sales price. also, nordstrom's is particularly good with this, make friends with a particular person at a particular department if you do a lot of shopping there. >> secret tips. >> because many times they'll give you an alert that, hey, coming up tomorrow or next week, we're having a sale on such and such. >> oh, it's good to have friends. it's so good to have you all, too. you'll be coming back to answer a lot of questions. >> yeah, fred. we're ready. >> you've been sending us about holiday shopping and other personal finance issues as well. so if you have a question, you