Consumers spend more than planned during holiday
Even though many consumers were feeling the credit crunch, many still used credit cards more than they had planned to during the holiday season a survey from Consumer Reports found. The survey found that 47% of shoppers used credit cards for holiday purchases and that consumers using credit cards, on average, spent nearly $100 more than consumers paying with cash.
“Looking back on this past holiday shopping season it was clear that some Americans were willing to open up their wallets,” Ed Farrell, Consumer Reports National Research Center said. “Many shoppers drove up their holiday shopping budget at the last minute, which could have been a result of sales and discounts retailers were offering.”
A poll in early December found that, on average, consumers planned to spend $636 on holiday purchases. The later results after the holidays found that the average consumer paying with credit spent $896 and that 23% of shoppers had charged more than $1000.
A sign of the changing economic times however is that over one forth of shoppers who used credit said that they have already paid off their holiday balances, 40% said the balance would be paid off by the end of January and 9% expected to pay off all holiday purchases by June.
