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With no plan in place I began my Christmas shopping today. Now, normally we'll keep it real simple with the siblings, and Mom who doesn't want anything. For the kids and Grandkids we can get a little carried away. For each other Kelly and I have agreed (again) that some larger ticket items purchased earlier this year, a vacation trip and a big remodeling project would be our Christmas to each other. Today I was surprisingly effective and efficient with my shopping. With just a few clicks of the mouse I shopped local and bought gifts for six members of the family. That's a pretty good start for me and I'm in the ballpark for what I normally spend for those family members. Can I stop there? Hmmmmm for the grown-ups maybe. There's a chance we'll come in under what we spent last year. Nationwide, shoppers in general are not trending in that direction.
Americans plan to spend a lot this holiday season … Despite all that inflation -- or maybe because of it -- Americans plan to spend a near-record amount on gifts this holiday season. According to a new survey from Gallup the average American thinks they’ll spend $932 just on presents. That’s up from the $837 they thought they’d spend last year and $805 in 2020. 37% of people believe they’ll spend $1000 or more, and just 8% say they won’t spend anything on gifts. Weirdly, only 17% of Americans say they’ll spend more than they did last year.