Holiday Deals Are Everywhere. Here's How to Make Sure You're Actually Saving.
The holidays come with plenty of ways to “save.” Earn extra credit card rewards. Spend $100 and get $20 off your next purchase. Sign up for texts and get 15% off. Buy now and receive a coupon for January. Add just $12 more to your cart and shipping is free.
Individually, these offers can be worthwhile. Put them all together, though, and suddenly you may find yourself spending money to save money.
That’s exactly what many promotions are designed to encourage.
The good news? You don’t have to ignore holiday deals. You just need to make sure you’re using the promotion instead of letting the promotion use you.
1. Start with the purchase, not the promotion
This may be the single best rule for holiday shopping:
Decide what you want to buy before deciding which deal to use.
If you were already planning to spend $150 on gifts and your credit card offers bonus rewards on that purchase, great. Those rewards are genuinely valuable.
But if an offer convinces you to spend $150 when you intended to spend $75, you didn’t save money. You spent an extra $75.
Before acting on an offer, ask yourself: Would I buy this if there were no promotion attached? If the answer is no, think twice.
2. Don’t let rewards justify carrying a balance
Credit card rewards can be useful, particularly when you’re earning points, miles or cash back on purchases you were going to make anyway.
But rewards become much less rewarding if holiday spending turns into debt you carry for months.
For example, earning $30 in cash-back rewards isn’t much of a victory if the purchase generates $60 in interest because you can’t pay the balance off quickly.
A better strategy is simple: use rewards to complement your holiday budget, not expand it.
3. Be suspicious of the “spend a little more” trap
You’ve probably seen some version of this online: You’re only $18 away from free shipping!
Now you have a decision to make. Pay $7 for shipping or find another $18 worth of merchandise.
Spending $18 to avoid spending $7 isn’t saving $7. It’s spending $11 more.
The math may change if the additional item is something you genuinely need. Before adding something simply to reach a threshold, compare the additional spending required with the actual benefit you’re getting.
4. Treat “money for later” differently from money off today
One of the most effective promotions is a coupon or store credit you earn today but have to return to use later. Spend $100 this weekend and get $25 toward a future purchase.
Sounds like a 25% discount, right? Not necessarily.
You still pay $100 today. To receive the additional value, you have to return during a specific period, meet any restrictions and possibly spend even more money.
If you already shop at that retailer regularly, the offer may be valuable. If the coupon sends you back for another unplanned purchase, it may be doing exactly what the retailer hoped it would do.
Don’t count future store credit as savings until you’ve actually used it on something you intended to buy.
5. Do the math on percentages
“30% off” sounds impressive, but 30% off something priced higher than a competitor’s regular price isn’t necessarily a bargain.
During the holiday season, compare the final price, not the advertised discount.
The same goes for buy one, get one 50% off; spend $200, save $40; buy three, get the fourth free; or get 25% off when you open a store credit card.
Ask one question: What will I actually pay for what I actually need? That’s the number that matters.
6. Put credit card rewards in perspective
Rewards programs can make good financial sense when used strategically.
If one card offers a higher reward rate for a particular type of purchase, using it may be worthwhile. But don’t let rewards encourage you to shop at a more expensive retailer or buy something you otherwise wouldn’t.
A good rule of thumb is: Choose the purchase first. Choose the payment method second.
7. Watch expiration dates
Holiday promotions often come with short redemption windows. A coupon earned in November might only be valid for a week in December. A promotional credit may disappear in January.
When you earn an offer you genuinely expect to use, make a quick note on your phone or calendar: $20 coupon | Store name | Valid Dec. 10–17.
And remember: letting a coupon expire costs you nothing if using it would require buying something you don’t need.
8. Keep a running holiday total
Small purchases can be surprisingly hard to track during the holidays: a $24 gift here, a $16 stocking stuffer there, $35 for shipping and another $40 because you remembered someone who wasn’t on your original list.
Rather than relying on your bank balance to tell you how you’re doing, keep a simple running total of holiday spending.
Include gifts, decorations, food, travel, shipping and other seasonal expenses. It can give you a much clearer picture of what the holidays are actually costing.
The best holiday deal is the one you control
Holiday promotions aren’t necessarily bad. Used thoughtfully, coupons, discounts and credit card rewards can help stretch your budget.
The trick is keeping the order of operations straight: Decide what you need. Set your budget. Find the best price. Then use the promotion. Not the other way around.
Because saving 20% on something you didn’t need isn’t really saving. Sometimes the best deal of the season is simply knowing when to say, “No thanks.”
A Heritage Bank perspective
At Heritage Bank, we believe good financial decisions aren’t always complicated. Sometimes they’re as simple as taking a breath, doing the math and making sure your money is working for you.
This holiday season, enjoy the deals that make sense, skip the ones that don’t and head into the new year feeling good about both what you gave and what you kept.