CHICAGO – October has just begun, but the countdown to the holidays is already in full swing. Some retailers are even counting down the 100 days to Christmas. Why all the fuss?

“You’re right to notice that the landscape of holiday shopping is changing because this year is very different from recent years and years prior,” said Bruce McClary, with the National Foundation for Credit Counseling.

What they’re saying:

McClary referenced the 100-day shopping countdowns seen in some store ads. He said it’s something brought on by consumer demand and retailer needs.

“So on the consumer side, there are studies out there that show that about one in three consumers have asked for a holiday shopping season to start in October or earlier,” McClary said. “And on the retail side, the retailers also, from a competitive standpoint, they want to get those consumer dollars first before their competitors. So they’re going to be offering, they want to be the ones offering the sales early.”

McClary added retailers also want to start early to try to avoid any possible supply chain issues where they might run out of inventory late in the holiday season. Target and Amazon are just two of the many retailers rolling out early sales this week for holiday shoppers.

“Well, a lot of consumers are asking for it because it does help to manage their budget a little bit better, and if you’re compressing all of your holiday shopping into November and December, it has a much more significant impact on your budget,” he said.

McClary added, “But if you spread it out a little more throughout the year, and these early sales actually help people in that area, what we’re seeing at the NFCC through our financial stress forecast and our recent Harris Poll, consumers are increasingly burdened by the amount of debt they have. And the state in which that debt is being managed. So a lot of consumers are falling behind right now, more so than in the past.”

What you can do:

So before you jump online or race to the store to take advantage of these early holiday sales, keep this in mind:

“Because the Christmas shopping time is longer than ever sales dropping in October, people have more opportunities to shop, more opportunities to overspend and take on debt,” said consumer finance expert Andrea Woroch.

She added that if you are planning to start your holiday shopping early, your first step is to make a budget. You can do that by figuring out how much you spent last holiday season, and if it feels like too much, you’re going to have to scale back. 

Next step: get your gifting game plan in order.

“And with your gifting game plan, you’re going to write a list of all your gift recipients and then maybe start jotting down ideas for each person and an average amount that you can afford to spend per person,” Woroch said.

Once you have that in place, Woroch says now is the time to start researching prices so you can figure out who is offering the best deal. There are plenty of apps to help with tracking pricing, like Honey’s Drop List or Camel Camel Camel.

“My typical rule of thumb is if you are getting 30% off a purchase, that’s a pretty good sale,” Woroch said. “Usually we’re not seeing much bigger of a discounts with the exception of some of those big door busters that are offered for around 50% off.”

So how do these early sales and countdowns impact two of the biggest shopping days in the holiday season?

Woroch said, “Chances are, this year, Black Friday, Cyber Monday, we will see sales, but they’re not going to be as wide of offers as we usually see. They’re going to most likely be a deep discount on a limited number of items. Every year, I’ve noticed the trend with Black Friday is that you’re really not seeing as many sales. There are some deals to be had, but not as big of sales.”

There is a risk for early shoppers who do stick to their budgets now. They risk overspending later if they forget what they bought and buy more gifts closer to Christmas.

Woroch suggested using apps like Santa’s Bag.

“You can list out each gift recipient and intended budget per person and then your actual amount you’ve spent per person plus what you purchased,” she said. “So this is a great reference point at any moment to remember who you bought for what you bought. And then it also shows you how much you’ve spent, and that is easy to lose track of as well.”

For more information on handling debt, housing concerns, bankruptcy and more, visit the Consumer Credit Counseling Service of Northern Illinois website.