YORK, Pa. — Between gifts, travel and entertainment, American consumers are expected to spend $1,530 this holiday season, according to a PwC report.
“People are going to be spending money this holiday season,” said Ryan Hitchcock, a financial planner and partner at High Point Capital Group.
With the price of most things still up, it’s important to set a holiday budget.
“Holidays are expensive,” said Hitchcock. “We’ve had extreme inflation over the last two years, so it’s going to be even more expensive, so you don’t want to overspend on the holidays and have that be the catalyst to wreck your financial future.”
When planning that budget, Hitchcock says not to guess. He suggests instead to look back on what you spent last year. While things like turkey and gifts for the kids are easy to account for, don’t forget about the variables, and plan for emergencies.
“On gifts you have the cards, and the tape and wrapping paper that goes along with it,” explained Hitchcock. “Another thing I’d say to do is plan for some emergencies. In the holidays especially, you know, you’re gonna forget some gift or forget something to bring to dinner, so just plan for that.”
Once the budget is set, stick to it. The effects could be felt months, if not years, down the road.
“It’s important to not get in trouble, or not overspend, because it has such long-term consequences when you get into credit card debt, like I talked about earlier, those interest rates right now are so high—like they are above 25%—so it’s just a hard hole to get yourself out of, “ said Hitchcock. “I always urge people to make sure that your short-term joys of the holiday don’t put your long-term financial futures in jeopardy.”