The information provided on this website does not, and is not intended to, act as legal, financial or credit advice; instead, it is for general informational purposes only. Information on this website may not be current. This website may contain links to other third-party websites. Such links are only for the convenience of the reader, user or browser; we do not recommend or endorse the contents of any third-party sites. Readers of this website should contact their attorney, accountant or credit counselor to obtain advice with respect to their particular situation. No reader, user, or browser of this site should act or not act on the basis of information on this site. Always seek personal legal, financial or credit advice for your relevant jurisdiction. Only your individual attorney or advisor can provide assurances that the information contained herein – and your interpretation of it – is applicable or appropriate to your particular situation. Use of, and access to, this website or any of the links or resources contained within the site do not create an attorney-client or fiduciary relationship between the reader, user, or browser and website owner, authors, contributors, contributing firms, or their respective employers.
Credit.com receives compensation for the financial products and services advertised on this site if our users apply for and sign up for any of them. Compensation is not a factor in the substantive evaluation of any product.
Americans must feel pretty good about their budgets this year, because they’re planning on spending a lot on the holidays. The typical American adult plans to drop $830 on Christmas shopping this year, compared to the $720 average last year, according to Gallup.
If you take out the share of people who aren’t planning to buy anything, the average spend goes up to $908. That’s up from $780 last year.
Gallup surveyed more than 1,000 adults in the 50 states and D.C. between Nov. 4 and 8. The margin of error is plus or minus 4 percentage points. Gallup also surveyed Americans in October about their Christmas budgets, and in years past, people have scaled back their spending plans between October and November. Not this year. People said they were going to spend $812 around Christmas, as of October, but now they’re saying $830. In 2014, the estimate slid from $781 to $720, and in 2013, people changed their plans from spending $786 to $704.
Americans haven’t planned to buy this much since 2007, when Gallup’s November survey put the average Christmas spending at $866.
Just because a survey says the typical shopper plans to spend $830 this Christmas season doesn’t mean that should be your guideline. If you want to avoid overspending, debt or damaged credit, set a holiday budget based on your own situation.
Planning ahead can give you more time to look for sales or spread out your spending over multiple paychecks or credit card billing cycles. Keep in mind that opening up new credit cards can cause a small ding in your credit scores (and applying for many accounts could make a huge dent). If you shop using credit cards, remember that getting close to your credit limit can also hurt your credit score. To keep an eye on how your credit card spending affects your credit, you can get two free credit scores every 30 days on Credit.com. It can help you look at your scores for signs of fraud, too.
Image: Monkey Business
March 11, 2021
Personal Finance
March 1, 2021
Personal Finance
February 18, 2021
Personal Finance