Tips to spend smart on Black Friday 2025

Chris Henderson, Save and Pay Director at Tesco Bank, comments:

“With Christmas shopping upon us, we’re all looking for ways to save on the additional spending we do at this time of year. While sales like Black Friday can sometimes mean savings, it’s important to prepare yourself before deals become available. A few easy hacks – from making your shopping list and checking it against your budget, through to redeeming rewards and points – can help you spend mindfully as we approach the festive season.”

Chris shares his top five tips to make the most of the deals ahead of Black Friday on 28th November:

1. Get your Black Friday shopping list sorted

Black Friday can be a good time for deals, but equally it’s easy to get tempted by offers and to spend money you hadn’t planned to. If there are things you need or want ahead of Christmas, do some research and check whether or not the items on your wishlist will be cheaper in the Black Friday sales.

2. Set yourself a ‘cooling off’ period

Think about how to make your spending mindful at this time of year. One way to do this is to set yourself a ‘cooling off’ period – it’s a budgeting technique that one in eight (13%) people have used. If you see something you like, give yourself 24 hours to decide if you really do want it. If the urge disappears, then you probably don’t need it.

3. Make your shopping work for you

Check your card provider to see if you can earn cashback on any purchases you make. Rewards programmes are also a great way to take money off your final bill, whether that’s through the initial sign-up offer, collecting points or member discounts.

Also make sure to use a secure method to pay for your shopping, such as a debit or credit card. The latter offers vital consumer protection if purchases do go wrong. Avoid paying by bank transfer – this payment type cannot be recalled if there is an error, which puts it at a higher risk of fraud. Take Five, a national campaign led by UK Finance, is a good source of straight-forward and impartial advice to help everyone protect themselves from financial fraud.

4. Check the fine print

Many retailers offer free delivery and return on orders over a certain value, but that’s not true everywhere. It’s also common now to buy in bulk and return items later, but this can be costly if returns aren’t free. Make sure to check what the retailer offers so you don’t get caught out, as small additional costs such as these can quickly add up.

5. Shop around and compare costs 

Some window shopping can be a good idea before you hit the ‘buy now’ button when online shopping. Check different retailers to see if you can get the same item for a better price or with an extra reward, like building points or earning some cashback.

Methodology

Research conducted by Opinium Research on behalf of Tesco Bank. Sample was 2,000 UK adults

(aged 18+). Fieldwork was undertaken between 18th and 22nd September 2025. All data has been

weighted to be representative of the UK population.