HARRISBURG, Pa. — Financial experts are letting consumers know although inflation is slowing down, it doesn’t hurt to be smart with your money during the holiday season.
With online Black Friday sales breaking records, and Cyber Monday up 20% compared to last year, millions of Americans are getting smarter with their money.
Inflation and the Federal Reserve's decision to raise interest rates are currently driving the market for much of the year, but Catherine Azeles, financial advisor with Conrad Siegel, said although there are positive trends, consumers feeling the pressure of rising costs won’t last long.
“The market is still pricing in that the market will fall to about three percent in over the next two years, of course, that’s still above the Fed's long-term goal of two percent but much lower than what it is right now,” said Azeles.
When it comes to sticking to a budget, Azalea said many shoppers get derailed from the holiday sales and deals in stores and online. Tips she suggests are:
Make a list of people you will be shopping for
Create a budget on how much you would like to spend
Do the research and price-match items before you check out
“You should still be looking into the deep discounts that are out there, specifically because of the excess inventory that has happened because of the pandemic and backlogs and such, so I think as far as combating the inflation and how it’s impacting your pocketbook, do your research,” said Azeles.
Azeles said shoppers don’t have to break the bank for high price tag items for the holidays. After creating and sticking to a budget, other forms of gift-giving could be less expensive.
“What we enjoy is giving the gift of an experience rather than a high price tag item, and I think a lot of us can agree that we have a lot of stuff sometimes,” said Azeles. "Think about that night out in town or a long weekend trip, or just a local outing here in central Pennsylvania. There’s so much to do in our back yard and sometimes that could be even more special to spend the time rather than putting a lot of money behind it."