Pros and cons of Black Friday, Cyber Monday deals

IDAHO FALLS, Idaho (KIFI) - A recent report from Moody’s investors says consumers are more cautious due to inflation and higher interest rates heading into the holiday season. 

Idaho Falls financial coach Bruce Christensen says rising costs have shoppers taking a closer look at their budgets. He sat down with us to discuss some pros and cons of holiday shopping deals when you're trying to reign in expenses. 

"Obviously, if it's something that you need and you want and you can pick it up for cheaper, that's always a great thing," Christensen said. "I think where people get in trouble is that it's a frenzy...there's this, there's that..and 'maybe I don't need it, but I'm going to get it because it's on sale. It's cheap.' And so I think that's where a lot of people get in trouble."

He also shared his advice on how to avoid a spending frenzy this holiday season.

"Just have to be content and satisfied with what we have right now and set up our budget so that we can work toward that type of thing. And if Black Friday comes and we don't have the funds built up for that, then we may be out of luck right now and we may need to think about that further down the road."

Christensen also advises not letting others' expectations influence your spending decisions; set a budget on what you can spend for family and friends and stick to that.