38% of Americans Expect to Carry Holiday Shopping Credit Card Debt into the New Year

CardRates.com holiday survey: 78% of survey participants who expect to carry card debt said they hope to pay their balances off in one to three months or less.

GAINESVILLE, FLORIDA, UNITED STATES, November 17, 2023 /EINPresswire.com/ — CardRates, a website that educates consumers about the benefits and perils of credit cards, released today the results of its 2023 Holiday Credit Card Debt Survey. The survey examined holiday gift spending behaviors and how consumers will manage any accumulated debt.

Men Ages 35 to 44 Are Most Likely to Incur Card Debt

When survey respondents were asked whether they expected to carry credit card debt after the holidays this year, about 38% said they did, while 49% said they did not, and 13% said they were unsure.

Of those figures, 46% of men surveyed said they expect to incur credit card debt, compared with just 29% of women. When broken down by age, those between ages 35 and 44 were the most likely to carry a balance into the New Year (57%), followed by those between the ages of 25 and 34 (48%). Consumers ages 55 to 64 were the least likely (21%) to say they would incur holiday card debt.

When it comes to paying off that debt, nearly 4 in 10 Americans (39%) surveyed said they would settle that debt immediately, while the remaining folks with holiday credit card debt said they would pay it off:

• within 1 month (17%)

• 1-3 months (22%)

• 6 months (10%)

• 6-12 months (6%)

• more than a year (6%)

The Holiday Expenses Resulting in Credit Card Debt

More than half of Americans (51%) surveyed said they have less to spend on holiday shopping this year, while 29% said they have more to spend for the holidays this year, and 20% said they have about the same to spend as last year.

While holiday gifts this year are the main holiday expense (53%), Americans’ second biggest holiday expense is food and beverages (18%), followed by:

• holiday travel (10%)

• decorations (6%)

• holiday party attire (5%)

• holiday events (4%)

• charitable giving (4%)

Additionally, more than half of Americans (54%) surveyed said they plan to buy new holiday decorations this year.

Forty-three percent of those surveyed said they would pay more for the same item to purchase it from a small business vs. a big-box retailer, while 42% said they would not, and 15% said they didn’t care where they buy from.

“Regardless of whether holiday spending creates more or less credit card debt than in years past, it’s encouraging to see that a large percentage of credit card users plan to eliminate that debt right away,” said Ashley Fricker, senior editor at CardRates. “For others who cannot pay off their holiday debt right away, they must remember to pay at least the minimum monthly charge by the due date. Setting up automatic payments can help ensure they don’t miss a payment and incur expensive late fees, or worse, damage their credit score.”

The Things Americans Want This Year

Finally, the survey found that next to clothing (51%), the most popular items on Americans’ personal wish lists are gift cards (50%) and/or cash (41%). Other wish-list items include:

• Electronics (32%)

• Jewelry (27%)

• Vacation/Trip (23%)

• Gaming consoles and accessories (21%)

• Tools/Home improvement (17%)

• Sporting goods (14%)

• Car (13%)

• Exercise equipment (13%)

• Gym membership (6%)

Methodology: A national online survey of 1,036 U.S. consumers, ages 18 and older, was conducted by Propeller Insights on behalf of CardRates.com in October of 2023. Survey responses were nationally representative of the U.S. population for age, gender, region, and ethnicity. The maximum margin of sampling error was +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence.

About CardRates.com: CardRates is a financial website that was created to better educate consumers about the benefits and perils of credit cards. To that end, CardRates.com’s finance experts strive to share valuable, well-researched advice, news, and reviews. In addition to ranking credit cards on a number of criteria, CardRates.com’s writers and editors share tips to help consumers choose the best credit card for their needs.

Brent Shelton
CardRates.com
[email protected]
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