11 psychological tricks to save more and spend less during Black Friday

Jackie of Money Crush points out that we're thinking about "no" all wrong. Instead of being reluctant to turn down a purchase, pass up an expensive opportunity, or closely manage your budget, remember that refusal gives you power: For one thing, it gives us serious negotiating clout. And for another, she explains, saying "no" to the things that don't really matter allows us to focus on the things that do.

It's particularly easy to give an enthusiastic "yes!" to purchases over the holiday season, with so many enticing decorations, sweets, and stocking stuffers. Remember to check yourself while shopping, and don't hesitate to turn down that extra string of lights or Kringle.

Fredrick Petrie, author of "The End of Work: Financial Planning for People With Better Things To Do," recommends "taxing" yourself in order to get more money out of your wallet and into the bank — this way you'll make savings a priority from the get-go, rather than budgeting everything else first and then seeing what is left over for savings.

"Make yourself your own mini-IRS," Petrie tells Main Street. "You are more likely to put it aside if you are forced to as a tax. Put 10 cents of every dollar that comes into your hands somewhere where you are less likely to spend it. Successful saving first requires 'psyching yourself out.'"

To make sure you're still able to pay yourself first over the more expensive holiday season, it's important to prepare for these expenses throughout the year. If you know gifts will cost you about $500, start setting aside $42 each month in January so you're fully prepared come December. If you didn't think ahead this year, make it a 2018 resolution.

"Unless you're shopping specifically to split purchases with a friend, try to shop alone," recommends Hamm in "365 Ways to Live Cheap."

The more people you bring along, the easier it becomes to impulse buy, he writes: "There are many more opportunities for impulsiveness with multiple people than there is with one person. A single person equipped with a planned shopping list has the least chance to slip an impulsive purchase into the cart, so go alone to save some money in the checkout aisle."

Make it a hard-and-fast mental rule, suggests Anna from the blog And Then We Saved, and instead consolidate those unspent coins every night until you have a small pile of savings to bring to the bank.

If you're spending cash during the holiday season, this is the time to start gathering up every extra cent.

And even if you don't use cash, Anna writes, "some banks will round your purchases to the nearest dollar and deposit that money into a savings account. If your bank doesn't offer that service, you can easily add up the change on your purchases and move that change to a separate account. Doing the math yourself is a little less magical, but it works."

Reddit user Koketa13 recommends converting dollars to hours. "If you make $10 an hour, then that cup of coffee isn't just $2, it's 12 minutes of your life," he says. "For me, this helped put a lot of things into perspective and cut down on impulse purchases." How many minutes are you spending on wrapping paper?

If leaving the plastic at home simply is not a possibility, there's another option for you that just requires a bit of crafting: Particularly if you're prone to impulse spending on your credit card, Lifehacker recommends creating a simple paper sleeve for your card.

Not only does it give you another mental step to climb before you can spend — and another chance to second-guess yourself and put on the brakes — but on the sleeve, you can paste or draw a picture of your savings goals to keep them top of mind, or pen a warning to yourself: "Not for self-gifting!"

Research shows that people spend significantly more when using credit cards instead of cash. So if you're looking to curb your spending, try bringing only cash to the store.

Simply leave the plastic at home, determine how much money to withdraw for your holiday gifts, and buy things only with the cash you allocated for yourself. When it runs out, you're out of funds.

Bonus: If you're going cash-only, seek out the newest, crispest bills from your bank. Research shows that people prefer new cash to dirty, wilted bills, and are more likely to spend, and part with, the old ones.

There are times when procrastinating does have value. When it comes to discretionary spending, A. Noonan Moose from Frugal Fringe recommends putting off your purchase to give yourself time to find better prices and make better decisions. We highlighted a few of our favorite examples here.

This strategy translates well to buying gifts online: If you're deciding between a few choices, put all of them in your cart, and leave them for a few days without checking out (as long as you'll still have time for delivery before they're needed). In that time, an item might go out of stock and make your choice for you, you might be offered a retailer coupon by email, or the price might drop.

Another quick and easy in-store trick: When deciding whether or not to make a purchase, imagine a stranger offering your would-be purchase in one hand and the cash it would take to buy it in the other. If you'd rather accept the cash, you might as well keep that money in your pocket.