Black Friday Shopping: Avoid These Credit-Card Pitfalls
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
Here's your money briefing for Friday, November 27th. I'm J.R. Whalen for The Wall Street Journal. Spending most of our days at home during the pandemic has sent online shopping sharply higher, and that's likely to shift into high gear during the holiday season starting today, Black Friday. But while you shop till you drop, keep in mind warnings from financial experts about loading up your credit card or opening a new one.
Before anyone even enters a store or goes online, what's recommended by a lot of different experts and analysts is that you take a step back and look at what bills do you already have on your credit cards? What's your utilization look like so that you know what you're walking into?
Our personal finance reporter Amber Burton will discuss pitfalls to watch out for when using your credit card this holiday season. That's after the break.
Black Friday marks the unofficial start of the holiday shopping season.
How has the pandemic changed Black Friday shopping behavior in 2020?
But in a year when the pandemic has put many Americans into debt, financial experts are warning consumers to be smart about how much they spend and make sure that Black Friday offer you've got your eye on really is a good deal. For more, let's bring in our personal finance reporter, Amber Burton. Amber, thanks for being here.
Yeah, thank you for having me.
All right, Amber, 2020 has been rough on a lot of us. How is that making this holiday shopping season, you know, different from years past?
Yeah, it's definitely different from years past. I mean, it's a little bit counterintuitive, you would think, with this year being so different that people might be scaling a little bit back when it comes to the holidays. But actually, people are really using the holiday season this year to sort of make up for how the rest of the year has gone. I spoke to one industry analyst who said, this is really how people are making up for a crummy 2020. And he's observed it with a lot of past holidays, Halloween and Thanksgiving holidays. were his examples of how people are really trying to make up for those missed birthday parties and graduations by putting a little bit of extra in terms of decorations, gifts, and food just to kind of support the fact that the year has been a little bit crazy.
Yeah, that's for sure. You know, credit cards can make things really easy. You know, they say it's better to give than to receive. But shoppers can rack up balances and interest pretty easily.
What should you check on your credit cards before holiday shopping?
So what kind of planning should they do before clicking the checkout button?
Before anyone even enters a store or goes online, what's recommended by a lot of different experts and analysts is that you take a step back and look at what bills do you already have on your credit cards? What's your utilization look like so that you know what you're walking into? And on top of that, go ahead and do that easy planning, like making a list and budgeting before you decide what you want to purchase.
Now, a lot of people will probably choose to shop from home with health and safety in mind. But what are you hearing from money experts that shoppers should watch out for with their wallet in mind if they do go into stores?
A lot of experts are really saying watch out for those impulse buys, those different little gifts that you see that are near the cash register. That's where a lot of things are going to kind of throw your budget into whack, those unexpected expenses on your credit card that could hang on even months after the holidays.
Now, the other thing is, while merchants do heavy promotion for Black Friday, shoppers probably should make sure they're actually getting a good deal on what they want to buy.
Yeah, not necessarily. Stores do not always roll out their best deals on Black Friday. WalletHub research determined that 21% of items offered on Black Friday are not actually of greater savings than any other day of the year.
How can budget planning reduce credit-card debt during Black Friday?
And no doubt when we're shopping either online or in the store, we're going to see ads encouraging us to sign up for a store credit card to get an extra discount.
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Chapters
5 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:05–1:01
2
How has the pandemic changed Black Friday shopping behavior in 2020?
1:01–2:20
3
What should you check on your credit cards before holiday shopping?
2:20–3:35
4
How can budget planning reduce credit-card debt during Black Friday?
3:35–5:21
5
What in-store pitfalls and impulse-buy traps should shoppers avoid?
5:21–6:22
Speakers
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