With Thanksgiving in the rearview mirror, the holiday season is in full swing.

That means people are busy Black Friday shopping and checking off gifts from their lists early.

The Green Acres Mall in Valley Stream was busy with people from all over the island hoping to snag the best deals on their favorite items.

A record 186.9 million people are planning to shop from Thanksgiving Day through Cyber Monday this year, according to the consumer survey released by the National Retail Federation and Prosper Insights & Analytics. That number is up more than 3 million total shoppers from last year.

According to the experts, Black Friday remains the most popular day to shop.

But with inflation, the rising cost of living and tariffs, how are people actually faring at the store?

Many shoppers told News 12 they're making exceptions and going above their normal holiday budgets to get everything this year.

"Even before the holidays, we are very budget-minded; we definitely try to keep things as close as we can," Black Friday shopper Mikhail Nauth said. "That gave us a little room this time of year, okay, we can go a little bit more, just because it's the holidays."

Macerich, which owns and operates the Green Acres Mall and other large retail facilities, said it saw an increased foot traffic of 5.6% last year. This year, they believe it will be "Gen Zers" seeking the nostalgia of mall shopping in person that will drive turnout this year.