If you're waited this long to buy your holiday gifts, Friday will be a great day to shop online and take advantage free shipping offers.

More than 2,000 retailers are scheduled to participate in FREE Shipping Day tomorrow, according to FreeShipping.org.

The participating retailers are also promising that your purchases will arrive by Christmas Eve.

Click here to see which retailers are particpating, then check back as early as midnight when the shipping deals will be announced.

If Black Friday isn't your thing, retailers are hoping today's Cyber Monday deals will get you to part with your hard-earned dollars this holiday season.

Many local merchants and most national chains will be sending out emails, tweets and Facebook alerts, hoping to entice customers with online-exclusive deals, free shipping and other promotions.

Many retailers started early, releasing Cyber Monday deals on Sunday (sound familiar?) Other companies started at midnight and many more are releasing deals this morning. I'll keep updating throughout the day so check back often. And please feel free to add the deals you spot.

Note: This is the first in an occasional series of posts focusing on ways to celebrate the holidays without spending a lot of money.

I'll be stopping in at Kroger this week to do a little Christmas shopping.

It's not as crazy as it sounds.

That's what the National Retail Federation is predicting for the upcoming holiday shopping season. The trade group said today that holiday sales will drop 1 percent to $437.6 billion compared to last year's shopping season.

The good news? The drop won't be as bad as last year's 3.4 percent drop. Small blessings, I suppose.

NRF chief economist Rosalind Wells said Americans will focus on practical gifts and stay firm to their budgets this holiday season.

Read more here.