This weekend is the traditional start of the holiday shopping season, beginning with Black Friday.

By one estimate, online spending yesterday was more than 14% higher than last year, and in-store purchases were up a modest 0.7%.

Some retailers have been offering discounts since shortly before Halloween in hopes of encouraging shoppers squeezed

by inflation to open their wallets. We ask people to tell us about their shopping plans this year.

My name is John Ferber and I live in Sacramento, California.

My name is Sherry Sherry and I'm in Centerfield, Virginia.

I am Susan Pope and I live at Wapaca, Wisconsin.

My main shopping usually starts in July.

I started my holiday shopping for this year, last year. September and October, I'll always be

thinking about what I shouldn't be spending then so I can spend a little more around the holidays.

I don't really budget for my gifts. It just works out in the end.

I usually have kind of a budget in mind. I can't say I stick to it. Because if I find something I think it's really great for someone and it exceeds the budget I planned, I go ahead and get it because I want them to have it.

Whatever I need to get for the holidays, I'll look online a little bit more to make sure I'm stretching my budget. I used to love Black Friday.

I would be the one getting up at five in the morning to go buy toys. But in the past few years,

I haven't done it because there aren't a lot of things on those sales that I'm really looking for as gifts.

I don't think price matters. I can give a bit of joy for $12 as easily as I can give something for

$100. I found my friends love if I make something for them or if we just catch up and have time to

hang out and relax, we don't

tend to do that enough during the year. And so it's nice to make that a part of the holidays.

I'm hoping that there'll be more time to get together this holiday and spend time together

because to me, that's more important than the presence or anything else, is the presence of the people,

not the presence or from the people.

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