Shoppers crowd the Hamilton Place mall in Chattanooga, Tenn., early Friday.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) - It's 4:00 a.m. About 17 degrees. I have a chest cold. But I'm answering the call of my alarm – because this is my day.

I'm a dedicated holiday shopper who celebrates Black Friday by arriving at stores before some employees do. I'm part of an odd crowd, admittedly, waking before we normally do in hopes of saving a few dollars. But we're determined – and ask any one of us and we'll argue we've got more holiday spirit than the rest of you.

If you've never experienced the early morning hours of Black Friday, you're missing out. By mid-morning the stores are packed with shoppers throwing elbows in their battle for the last Line Dancing Elmo or whatever that year's hottest item happens to be. But in the twilight hours it's a more peaceful time.

We chat as we wait in line, comparing bargains and giving each other tips on where other good deals are. We hold each other's places in the checkout line while we dash to grab one last item.

Even the clerks are friendlier. At 5 a.m. they're tired, but they're not yet bitter. You won't see that attitude after the first few hours of Black Friday.

Do we, the early morning bargain-hunters, get better deals? Sometimes -- quite often, in fact. Those too-good-to-be-true deals you see in the Thanksgiving paper do exist, but stores typically have a very limited supply. But if you want to find the deals, you've got to be prepared.

Early morning Black Friday shopping really begins the day before with a careful scan of the newspaper. Valuable coupons are hidden throughout – and the ad flyers (if you haven't already read them online) let you put together your list.

The list is essential. If you're up that early on Black Friday, you're not there to browse. (And, if you're like me, someone who actually hates shopping most of the rest of the year, it helps you get in and out faster.)

Circuit City seemed to have the best deal this year: a laptop computer for just $199 (after rebates and with a one-year commitment to AOL). They were also offering 512MB memory cards for digital cameras for just $9 after rebate. The laptop was tempting, but no one on my Christmas list needed one. I decided to try for the memory card a bit later.

Friday morning: After hitting the snooze button a couple of times, I grab my warmest jacket and begin the rounds. First stop: Kohl's, which opens at 5:00 a.m. I arrive about 15 minutes prior to that. The line's a bit bigger than last year, maybe 50-75 people, but not bad. Another 20 or so people chose the option I did, waiting in our cars with the heaters on until the doors were opened.

When the doors open I beeline to the back corner of the store to pick up some toys for my nephews and find something for my wife. The rest of the shoppers descend on the pile of $99 portable 7-inch DVD players. I'm out the door by 5:30 with $80 in savings off regular prices. I also pocketed a $10 voucher for future purchases by spending more than $50. A good start.

Next up Sears, which I'd heard was giving away $10 gift cards to the first 200 customers when it opened at 6:00 a.m. On the way, I pass a Wal-Mart, glance over, shudder slightly and accelerate. I tried Wal-Mart on Black Friday a couple of years ago and still have the psychological scars to show for it. There might be amazing deals, but the mental toll there is just too much.

I get to Sears at 5:50. The line around the store is about 400 people deep. When the doors open, many decide to forget about the gift card, opting instead for the warmth of the store. I see a mob forming and notice a petite blonde woman in her early 20s being crushed as she hands out the aforementioned gift cards. It was the first sign of shopper ugliness, with pushing, shoving and yelling. Disgusted, I turn away.

Macy's took a much smarter approach and printed a $10 coupon in Thursday's paper along with a 15% off coupon. Armed with those, I find things for my mother and wife. Total savings: about $100.

It's 6:45 and Circuit City's nearby. What the heck? I could use a new memory card for the camera. Yeah, right.

The store's packed. The memory cards are long gone. I ask someone in the computer department how long the $199 laptops lasted. He shakes his head sadly and says there were more than 500 people lined up outside the store when he arrived at 4:30 a.m.

It's 7:15. Getting late. Early morning Black Friday shoppers know that when parking spaces are hard to find it's almost time to go home. I make a quick stop at one more store then call it a day. Not my best Black Friday but with $180 in savings not a bad one.