Credit experts share tips for holiday shopping season as consumer stress rises

Shoppers in New Haven noticed the stark difference in Black Friday deals this year in comparison to previous years.

Anya Mehrotra, a student at Yale University, said the discount items were very similar to the prices she saw throughout the entire year.

“I bought a couple things before Black Friday and then Black Friday came and they didn’t actually change the sale amount from before,” Mehrotra said.

She said she saw a lot of 20% off and 40% off signs for clothing, but did not find the major deals she had in previous years.

Bruce McClary, the senior vice president of media relations with the National Foundation for Credit Counseling said consumers are not wrong about this year’s sales being different.

McClary said it’s due to Black Friday deals starting earlier to give retailers a chance to compete with online prices as well as a way to help the consumer.

“We’re also seeing it gives consumers a little bit more time to decide what offers are best and what’s most affordable,” McClary said.

Another change shaping shopping trends this year is people’s lack of spend-ability, according to McClary.

“People are charging more and using credit more frequently to cover expenses they may have otherwise covered using their own money,” McClary said.

McClary advises consumers to stay away from buy-now, pay-later options such as Klarna and Afterpay if they are not prepared to make the payment on time.

“It’s very tricky too, because there could be other fees that sneak in that sort of erode that discount that you may have benefitted from at the point of sale.”

For people looking to take advantage of Cyber Monday deals, Frederick Scholl, associate professor of cybersecurity at Quinnipiac University recommends the following safety tips:

• Use a two-factor authenticator when using a credit card for shopping or banking
• If purchasing a computer, set up the account as normal user instead of administrative to avoid risk of attacks
• Use a password manager for additional safety