Americans embrace debt to get through holidays, with 1 in 5 saying their budget won’t recover until next May

8 comments

1. For the majority of respondents (61%), 2024 is in their top five most financially challenging years ever.

   Possibly because of this, more than four in 10 Americans (43%) are “going lean” this holiday season and will spend less this year compared to years past.

   Most (65%) are stressed about their holiday spending this year and 73% say their financial stress takes away from their enjoyment of the season.

   Looking ahead, a fifth (20%) believe they won’t financially recover from the 2024 holiday season until May 2025 or later.

   And seeing how Americans plan to pay for the holidays this year, respondents reported that a fifth of their holiday expenses (20%) will be put on a credit card.

   In fact, 28% have already or plan to open a new line of credit to cover their holiday spending.

2. It’s surprising considering that people are having fewer children. What are they buying and for whom?! Are people spending more on siblings, parents, and friends than in previous years?

   (Paywalled, so I have no idea if this question is answered in the article.)

3. Well the people voted for a new President because of the louzy economy. We will see if Trump can walk the talk. If they don’t lower taxes and regulations you can forget about the economy getting better.

4. How sad that people feel compelled to indebt themselves for commercialized Christmas. Most of the junk will end up in a landfill before next Christmas just to repeat the process.

5. If my budget wouldn’t recover until May, you may not be getting anything for Christmas 

6. I spent probably $300 to $400 this year and that’s more than I usually spend. However, my Christmas bonus was over $1000 this year.

7. So alternate headline: bottom 20% of Americans struggling, still.

8. We blew our budget on groceries, not gifts. We usually buy gifts throughout the year. The Christmas break for my little one really hit the bank hard this year. Almost $300 for two weeks of breakfast, lunches and dinners along with snacks. I’ll still need to buy another round of produce next week since LO eats her weight in fruits and veggies.

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