How Much Do You Spend During The Holidays?
BOSTON (CBS) - The Christmas displays seem to appear in the stores earlier and earlier each year. They want to remind us to start our holiday shopping early.
Most of us have HPS, Holiday Perfectionist Syndrome. We want the perfect holiday, like the ones we see on TV; a beautiful tree laden with perfect ornaments, packages arranged artfully under the tree, festive food and everyone happy! And the perfect holiday comes with a price tag.
A recent Gallup survey conducted earlier this month finds that 30% of adults nationwide say they will spend $1,000 or more on gifts, while 26% plan to spend between $500 and $1,000, and 32% plan to spend less than $500. The average is $763.
A survey done by Transunion found that most (65 percent) consumers do not save in advance of holiday shopping. So many shoppers will be facing buyer's remorse in January when the bills start coming in.
Did you set up a Christmas club last January? The average consumer is still paying off Christmas in July! And some consumers are still paying off last year's Christmas gifts.
What can you afford without going into debt this year? Create a budget. Make a list of the holiday expenses and include all of your costs here.
Cards, stamps, invitations, parties, special foods, drinks, decorations, new outfits for the kids, the tree, babysitting, house gifts, hair salon, new clothes for the grownups and, of course, the presents you plan to buy for everyone!
What and who can you delete from your Christmas list? Do you need to send Christmas cards to everyone you know? How about just those that live far away? Or just your grandparents and the rest get an e-mail?
And when we are out Christmas shopping we also treat ourselves. To the tune of an additional $18 billion on non-gift purchases. We see something we would like or the sales are too good to pass up. On average, we spend over $100 on ourselves while out Christmas shopping.
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You can hear Dee Lee's expert financial advice on WBZ NewsRadio 1030 each weekday at 1:55 p.m., 3:55 p.m., and 7:55 p.m.
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