Hey there! It's Talk About Money Tuesday, my favorite day of the week!🤑

I know it's hard to believe, but some people are already talking about holiday shopping. For the record, I'm definitely not some people. 😀

But I do love a good sale. And I know to watch out for those instances when a sale can make a purchase look like a smart one.

That $100 sweater marked down to $60 looks like a $40 victory. But there's an important catch: If you weren't planning to buy the sweater anyway, you didn't save $40. You spent $60.

That's an important distinction to teach young people. Retailers are excellent at making purchases feel like savings. "Buy one, get one," "20% off," and "an extra 30% off the sale price" can all make a purchase seem financially responsible.

I'm not saying sales are automatically bad. A genuine discount on something you already planned to buy can actually save real money. The trick is learning to tell the difference between saving money and spending less than the original price.

Young people who know how to pause and ask, "If this wasn't on sale, would I buy it?" are better equipped to make more thoughtful decisions about their money.

Money Stat

70%

The pull of a good deal can be impossible for many shoppers to resist. Seventy percent of consumers say a special deal, discount offer, or coupon has pushed them to make an impulse buy, according to data from Capital One Shopping research.

That figure shows that the price isn't the only thing influencing a purchase. In fact, the way the price is presented can affect whether someone decides to buy at all.

A discount can create a sense of urgency or make a product appear to be more valuable than it really is. It can also turn an item that a shopper hadn't even considered buying into something that suddenly feels like a bargain.

When young people learn to recognize when that's happening, they can create a useful pause between, "This is a good deal," and "I actually want to spend my money on that."

Money in the News

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The news: U.S. online holiday sales are expected to grow by 6.7% in 2026, with discounts helping attract customers who are dealing with higher household expenses.

What it means for young people: They may see even more "deals" competing for their attention than usual. Those deals will hopefully serve as a reminder that a discount doesn't automatically make something worth buying.

Tips for parents & mentors: The next time your child spots a holiday deal (or a deal in any season, really) ask, "What would you have done if this wasn't on sale?"

If the answer is, "I wouldn't have bought it," you've found a useful moment to talk about how a sale can change the way they feel about a purchase. The key thing for them to know is that a good deal is only a good deal if they actually planned to buy the item in the first place.

Get in the Zone

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Money skill: How to calculate the real savings when there's a sale

Why it matters: Shoppers can become hyper-focused on the size of a discount instead of on the amount leaving their bank account. Learning to separate "money saved" from "money spent" helps young people evaluate sales more realistically.

Try this: Give your child a hypothetical $100 shopping budget and help them shop from a list of gifts they need to buy. Then introduce a bunch of tempting sale items that weren't on the list. The challenge is to see whether a discount is actually good deal or simply an invitation to spend money on something they didn't plan to buy.

When it comes to unplanned purchases, encourage them to wait at least 24 hours before buying. A deal that still looks worthwhile after the excitement has worn off might be worth considering.

The Language of Money

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Before your kids can become savvy shoppers, they'll need to understand the psychology behind a good deal. Here are a few youth-friendly definitions to start the conversation with young people about why sales feel so tempting:

Anchoring: When the first price you see influences how you judge the prices that come afterward. For example, a $100 item marked down to $60 can make $60 feel cheap because $100 is the number you saw first.

Discount: A lower price than the regular price.

Framing: Presenting information in a way that changes how you think about a choice. For example, "Save 20%" sounds better than "Costs $80."

Impulse purchase: Something you buy without planning to buy it beforehand.

Opportunity cost: What you give up when you decide to spend your money on one thing instead of something else.

Money Talks

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The next time you're shopping with your kids point out an item on sale. You might say, "Look, this is marked down to $30 from $50. Do you think that makes it a good deal?"

Then ask, "How would you decide what this is actually worth to you?"

Your kids might think about how often they'd use it or how long it would last. They might also think about whether they could find something similar for less or wonder what else they could buy with $30.

They don't actually have to decide whether they should buy the item in question. But it's important for them to practice thinking about value for themselves rather than letting the sale price call the shots.

Loose Change

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🏷️ Customers have accused some popular retailers of inflating an item's original price, then striking it through to create a "phantom discount."

📚 Barnes and Noble recently had to beat back rumors of a too-good-to-be-true discount on its books.

📦 Here's a few ways to tell if the Prime Day sales you see today are the real deal.

Thanks for reading! If you want to read some of my past newsletters, click here. And if this newsletter was forwarded to you, please subscribe ​here​.

'Til next time,

Audrey
​Founder &
Certified Financial Education Instructor​
The FinLit Zone

600 1st Ave, Ste 330 PMB 92768, Seattle, WA 98104-2246
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