Colorado shoppers urged to budget as Cyber Monday deals roll in
In the thick of an already record-breaking shopping holiday weekend, shoppers are searching for cyber-Monday deals. Millions of shoppers are expected to participate in the shopping weekend.
While sales are already underway, financial experts like Leyder Murillo with Denver group Wolfpack Wealth Management warn that big savings could actually lead to even bigger spending.
"If you fail to plan, you're going to plan to fail. Essentially, you need to stay within your boundaries," Murillo said, "So it just can easily get into a slippery slope."
Murrillo also explained that the advertising may not give you all of the information for a price right away. "Right off the bat, you see, you know $80 off, $75 off, and they use creative colors to make you lead into that," Murillo said.
One way shoppers can check if sales are really cutting costs is to check with a price trend data analyzer to compare costs over time and from other stores.
Another way experts say you could save on tech is by trading in old models.
And while some buy-now-pay-later programs can be a helpful choice for some shoppers, Murillo says shoppers should be careful.
"Oftentimes people don't read these little, small prints here, and this is where it usually will not tell you, 'hey, if you don't pay it off on time, guess what? It's at 34.7%' so you got to read the small print," Murillo said.
But Murillo's biggest advice is to write down your budget before you shop, explaining, "It's just having that pen to paper. Once you see it actually affect you financially, and you see it, you know, hey, this is my cash flow, and this is what I have extra."
Ultimately, as shoppers ready their wallets to take advantage of deals, there are other ways to limit your spending this holiday season.
"Doing a Secret Santa, you know, staying frugal and just, you know, having just one gift, or setting a limit," Murillo said, "My parents always taught us, like the whole benefit of Christmas is spending time with family."