How Black Friday spending may compare with years past

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) -- Holiday shopping season is well under way, with Black Friday ending, and Cyber Monday around the corner.

The National Retail Federation predicts retail sales this winter will be 3.5% higher than last year, but your money may not go as far as years past.  

“The same spend might not translate to a larger amount of things or quality, quantity of things,” Ohio State University economics professor Bruce Weinberg said. “But the projections that I've seen of things are that spending will be going up this year."  

According the NRF, the top reason people choose to shop around Black Friday and Cyber Monday is because the deals are “too good to pass up.” Weinberg said even though inflation is stabilizing, shoppers may still not see the prices they are expecting.  

“When we say inflation is coming down, what we're saying is that prices aren't that much more than they were a year ago,” he said. “But they're still a lot more than they were two, three, four, five years ago. And I think people are still adjusting to that overall level of price change over that much longer period of time."

Despite some prices remaining high, a record 183.4 million people are planning to shop in-store and online from Thanksgiving Day through Cyber Monday this year. How can you cope with stressors like high prices? Kate Roush, assistant clinical professor at the Ohio State University College of Social Work says it starts simple.  

“Families can manage stressors such as prices and other things that are out of their control by really having a plan,” she said. “Making sure that you're building in time for managing stress, doing things you enjoy, especially things that maybe don't cost money: exercising, meditating.”  

Roush said even if you feel like you don’t have time for extra activities, it can be something quick.  

“One of my strategies, that I like to use, is whenever I pull up somewhere, I take a moment just to breathe deeply and regulate my breathing before I go into the store or to pick my kids up from childcare,” she said. “So really finding those times where you have a moment or two, it doesn't have to be all or nothing.”