How to combat impulse spending during the holiday shopping season

Just three weeks away from Black Friday, many stores are already rolling out their holiday deals.

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As reported on News Center 7 at 5:30 p.m., some shoppers aren’t afraid of impulse buying.

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Some people like to look and wait before we buy.

“I feel like I always have stuff in my cart and I wait and wait and wait,” Reilly Zegunis said.

While some people see something they want and throw it in the cart and checkout before even thinking twice.

“Sometimes some things you just really want,.. and you want them now,” Lauren Yacobucci said.

Ted Rossman, a senior industry analyst with Bankrate found that most shoppers made an impulse buy last holiday season.

“Maybe the surprise is that it’s not 100%... 54% admitted to it. I mean, truthfully, the real number may be a bit higher,” Rossman said.

The most popular reason for an impulse buy was a good deal, but Rossman says we should be careful buying things impulsively.

Rossman suggest making a holiday budget, setting money aside dedicated to holiday purchases.

“Probably still have four paychecks between now and the end of the year. It’s definitely important to set a good budget, because if you don’t, and you end up piling up credit card debt that can really stick with you,” Rossman said.

That way, when you do come across a good deal, you have the money set aside already.

“If you’ve set a certain amount of money aside for holiday shopping, or maybe better yet, earmarked a certain budget for different people on your list, then it’s not a harmful impulse buy,” Rossman said.

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