RewardExpert surveyed over 600 Americans about holiday spending habits and finds that a fresh start in 2018 depends on paying off holiday credit card bills.
New York, N.Y. — In the wake of the winter holiday spending madness, many Americans are nursing both physical and financial hangovers. To determine precisely how much Americans borrowed and spent during the 2017 holiday season, RewardExpert – free service that helps users take full advantage of credit card and travel rewards – conducted a 2017 Holiday Spending and Credit Card Debt Survey and today released its findings. The survey found that consumers in America who engaged in holiday shopping spent an average of $1,059 on gifts, travel, accommodations, and other holiday-related expenses.
“We surveyed 620 Americans aged 18 and up between January 8th and January 10th, 2018 to gain insights on their holiday spending habits,” says RewardExpert CEO and co-founder Roman Shteyn. “We broke down the findings into subsections to see how Americans from different generations and income brackets manage their winter holiday expenses.”
Additional key findings from RewardExpert’s 2017 Holiday Spending and Credit Card Debt Survey include:
- Average holiday spending increased approximately 5.5% to $1,059 in 2017 over figures for the 2016 holiday season. The overwhelming majority of Americans in all walks of life (76.94%) paid for their holiday shopping at least partially with credit.
- Late Boomers/Early Gen Xers are the biggest holiday spenders, while young Millennials spend the least. Americans aged 45-59 spent the most with $1,417 on average. The youngest end of our spectrum, participants aged 18-29, spent $549 on average. Interestingly, the next cohort up that straddles the Millennial and Gen X generations (ages 30-44), spent nearly twice as much as younger Millennials, averaging $1,090 in holiday expenses.
- Young Millennials were least likely to have used credit cards to pay for holiday expenses, with 70.11% indicating that they had used credit cards for holiday expenses, while Americans aged 45-59 were most likely to swipe their plastic at 89.53%. A surprisingly high number – over one third of all holiday spenders – put all of it on credit cards.
- Americans who paid entirely with plastic added up to 53% to their balances over the holidays. This figure was highest among high-income households, with holiday spending totals amounting to 52.26% of the average total credit card debt for respondents with annual household incomes between $125,000-$149,999.
- Surprisingly, high-earning consumers are most likely to need more than a month to pay their January credit card statement. Respondents with household incomes between $125,000 and $149,999 anticipate needing two to four months to pay off the bill they racked up over the holidays.
“Holiday expenses can really make a dent in a family’s financials,” says Shteyn. “The new year is the perfect time to reassess our household spending and budgeting. Savvy Americans can gain control of their debt by taking advantage of resources like balance transfer credit cards and no or low-interest credit cards.”
For further information and to view the full report, visit the RewardExpert website.
About RewardExpert
RewardExpert helps users navigate the world of frequent flyer programs and credit card rewards. The free web service provides smart tools and features that enable users to make more rewarding decisions. Through personal finance and travel insights, users are empowered to turn their spending into earning. Find out how to quickly gain rewards while spending less to see more of the world. To get started, visit www.rewardexpert.com.
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