The holidays can put a financial strain on those shopping for loved ones or even themselves.

Adam Craig is an associate professor of marketing at the University of Kentucky. He says companies are advertising Christmas and Black Friday deals earlier than ever.

He recommends checking different websites for the best deal, or to use online price trackers to see the historical best price on an item.

“It can be in the best interest of the consumer to try to do a little bit of homework before kind of pulling the trigger and making the purchase to see if the deal is as good as the retailer says it is.”

Craig says one of the best ways to avoid extra temptation is to just disconnect from social media.

“At this time, marketers are increasing the rate at which they’re trying to send out these messages,” Craig said. “They’re sending more emails, they’re placing more ads in social media feeds in order to try to get attention and get those clicks. So it can be difficult to ignore those.”

Craig says post-COVID inflation could factor in to earlier holiday-season messaging from retailers.

“If they think that consumers have inflation on their mind and are going to be more price conscious this season, retailers will try to outmaneuver each other, or try to move faster, to try to get the few dollars that people are going to be willing to spend,” Craig said.

He says it’s important to make a plan, stick to a budget and take your time to see if a better deal can be found.

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