MCLENNAN COUNTY, Texas (KXXV) — Shoppers have begun to see deals popping up throughout the whole month of November. Before you head out to shop for Black Friday, there are some tips you’ll want to know to help you watch what you spend.

• Black Friday sales are expected to rise this year, with some reports forecasting spending will reach $10.8 billion, that’s up 10% from 2023.
• For those who plan to go Black Friday shopping, a few options to help save money are making a list of what you plan to buy, and creating a budget for yourself.
• Locals have said they miss the way Black Friday was in previous years where the sales were not all month long.

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“A lot of black Friday sales are starting earlier,” said shopper Jessica Scott.

“Now everybody has them and you can do them the whole month of November,” Judy Nunn said.

If you’ve been out shopping lately, you may have noticed Black Friday deals starting a little earlier than normal.

“The companies want to get as much revenue. So they’re starting at the beginning of the month, they’re definitely ramping up the time just to get in more sales,” said TopcashbackUSA PR coordinator, Destiny Chatman.

Destiny Chatman with TopcashbackUSAtells 25 News Black Friday sales are expected to rise this year, some reports forecast spending to reach 10.8 billion dollars, that’s up 10% from 2023.

“A lot of retailers are doing a lot of targeted sales and especially online to get more revenue,” said Chatman.

So if you do plan to head out to stores, there are a few things to remember:

• Understand your stores return policy
• Make a list of what you plan buy
• Look for incentives for members or cashback options
• Have a budget

“I try to spend about $200 or so on each kid, I have two nephews and a niece that I buy Christmas for,” said Scott.

But as Black Friday approaches and as sales have already begun, some locals said the holiday shopping tradition has almost lost it’s hype.

“I would prefer it to go back to the older days, when you get the paper on Thursday, go through the ads, plan your route, plan where you’re going,” said Kim Holland, who plans to go Black Friday shopping.

“We would wake up early and we would wake up early and wait for the stores to open, it was a lot more fun back then,” said Nunn.

25 News Reporter Dominique Leh did reach out to Academy Sports and Outdoors for further insight on why their store stores started sales early. They said Academy wants to give people the option to start looking for deals early if they’re tight on money.

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