{"id":2365,"date":"2011-11-21T08:20:05","date_gmt":"2011-11-21T14:20:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.mdmproofing.com\/iym\/weblog\/?p=2365"},"modified":"2011-11-20T17:56:42","modified_gmt":"2011-11-20T23:56:42","slug":"scaling-back-christmas-giving","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mdmproofing.com\/iym\/weblog\/2011\/11\/scaling-back-christmas-giving\/","title":{"rendered":"Scaling Back on Christmas Giving?"},"content":{"rendered":"

According to a recent poll<\/a> published by Consumer Reports<\/i>, more than a few of us plan on cutting back the spending this holiday season:<\/p>\n

\n

Not surprising, consumers tell us they plan to watch their dollars carefully, continuing a trend that began in 2008. Planned spending may be down slightly this year, according to the poll; one in three consumers say they\u2019re cutting back on purchases, while more insist they\u2019ll commit to a budget this year (52 percent vs. 47 percent in 2010). And, once again, the bargain hunters will be out in force: 44 percent of respondents feel that getting a good deal is more important now than it was in 2010.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Yeah … about “bargain hunters.” If you believe that a “good deal” means camping out<\/a> in a Best Buy parking lot for multiple weeks in advance of Black Friday, well, more power to you, I guess. I just can’t relate.<\/p>\n

But back to Consumer Reports:<\/i><\/p>\n

\n

But take some of those numbers with a grain of salt. However noble their intentions, shoppers tend to underestimate their spending. Leading up to last year\u2019s holidays, for instance, respondents anticipated spending an average of $457 on gifts, but in actuality ended up spending $556 — 22 percent more. Moreover, 45 percent of those who made a budget last year exceeded it. Five percent went over budget by a lot.<\/p>\n

…Unfortunately, too many consumers still carry too much debt for too long. As of this month, 6 percent of Americans – around 14 million people – were still paying off their credit-card purchases from the 2010 holidays.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Obviously, those Six Percenters haven’t heeded my annual admonitions to save up for Christmas<\/a> throughout the year via some sort of Freedom Account<\/a> concept. Tsk tsk.<\/p>\n

Because if they had, then Christmas 2010 would be just a (hopefully) nice memory, instead of a monthly Citibank bill with accruing interest!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

According to a recent poll published by Consumer Reports, more than a few of us plan on cutting back the spending this holiday season: Not surprising, consumers tell us they plan to watch their dollars carefully, continuing a trend that began in 2008. Planned spending may be down slightly this year, according to the poll; […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33,66],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2365","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-planning","category-spending"],"yoast_head":"\nCutting Christmas Spending<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mdmproofing.com\/iym\/weblog\/2011\/11\/scaling-back-christmas-giving\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Cutting Christmas Spending\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"According to a recent poll published by Consumer Reports, more than a few of us plan on cutting back the spending this holiday season: Not surprising, consumers tell us they plan to watch their dollars carefully, continuing a trend that began in 2008. Planned spending may be down slightly this year, according to the poll; […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.mdmproofing.com\/iym\/weblog\/2011\/11\/scaling-back-christmas-giving\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Money Musings\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2011-11-21T14:20:05+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Michael\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Michael\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.mdmproofing.com\/iym\/weblog\/2011\/11\/scaling-back-christmas-giving\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.mdmproofing.com\/iym\/weblog\/2011\/11\/scaling-back-christmas-giving\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Michael\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.mdmproofing.com\/iym\/weblog\/#\/schema\/person\/9d5b5e0cd8c50c2ff0f4a1df112a5a42\"},\"headline\":\"Scaling Back on Christmas Giving?\",\"datePublished\":\"2011-11-21T14:20:05+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.mdmproofing.com\/iym\/weblog\/2011\/11\/scaling-back-christmas-giving\/\"},\"wordCount\":308,\"commentCount\":1,\"articleSection\":[\"Planning Ahead\",\"Spending\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.mdmproofing.com\/iym\/weblog\/2011\/11\/scaling-back-christmas-giving\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.mdmproofing.com\/iym\/weblog\/2011\/11\/scaling-back-christmas-giving\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.mdmproofing.com\/iym\/weblog\/2011\/11\/scaling-back-christmas-giving\/\",\"name\":\"Cutting Christmas Spending\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.mdmproofing.com\/iym\/weblog\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2011-11-21T14:20:05+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.mdmproofing.com\/iym\/weblog\/#\/schema\/person\/9d5b5e0cd8c50c2ff0f4a1df112a5a42\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.mdmproofing.com\/iym\/weblog\/2011\/11\/scaling-back-christmas-giving\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.mdmproofing.com\/iym\/weblog\/2011\/11\/scaling-back-christmas-giving\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.mdmproofing.com\/iym\/weblog\/2011\/11\/scaling-back-christmas-giving\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.mdmproofing.com\/iym\/weblog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Scaling Back on Christmas Giving?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.mdmproofing.com\/iym\/weblog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.mdmproofing.com\/iym\/weblog\/\",\"name\":\"Money Musings\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.mdmproofing.com\/iym\/weblog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.mdmproofing.com\/iym\/weblog\/#\/schema\/person\/9d5b5e0cd8c50c2ff0f4a1df112a5a42\",\"name\":\"Michael\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/2ed3cc00ccbe418a46908aff759f0164eaa603a5944928ead8ba144229b89d7c?s=96&d=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.mdmproofing.com%2Fiym%2Fweblog%2Fwp-content%2Fthemes%2Fmusings%2Fimages%2Fuser.gif&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/2ed3cc00ccbe418a46908aff759f0164eaa603a5944928ead8ba144229b89d7c?s=96&d=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.mdmproofing.com%2Fiym%2Fweblog%2Fwp-content%2Fthemes%2Fmusings%2Fimages%2Fuser.gif&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/2ed3cc00ccbe418a46908aff759f0164eaa603a5944928ead8ba144229b89d7c?s=96&d=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.mdmproofing.com%2Fiym%2Fweblog%2Fwp-content%2Fthemes%2Fmusings%2Fimages%2Fuser.gif&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Michael\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/www.mdmproofing.com\/iym\/\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.mdmproofing.com\/iym\/weblog\/author\/Michael\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Cutting Christmas Spending","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.mdmproofing.com\/iym\/weblog\/2011\/11\/scaling-back-christmas-giving\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Cutting Christmas Spending","og_description":"According to a recent poll published by Consumer Reports, more than a few of us plan on cutting back the spending this holiday season: Not surprising, consumers tell us they plan to watch their dollars carefully, continuing a trend that began in 2008. Planned spending may be down slightly this year, according to the poll; […]","og_url":"https:\/\/www.mdmproofing.com\/iym\/weblog\/2011\/11\/scaling-back-christmas-giving\/","og_site_name":"Money Musings","article_published_time":"2011-11-21T14:20:05+00:00","author":"Michael","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Michael","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.mdmproofing.com\/iym\/weblog\/2011\/11\/scaling-back-christmas-giving\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.mdmproofing.com\/iym\/weblog\/2011\/11\/scaling-back-christmas-giving\/"},"author":{"name":"Michael","@id":"https:\/\/www.mdmproofing.com\/iym\/weblog\/#\/schema\/person\/9d5b5e0cd8c50c2ff0f4a1df112a5a42"},"headline":"Scaling Back on Christmas Giving?","datePublished":"2011-11-21T14:20:05+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.mdmproofing.com\/iym\/weblog\/2011\/11\/scaling-back-christmas-giving\/"},"wordCount":308,"commentCount":1,"articleSection":["Planning Ahead","Spending"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.mdmproofing.com\/iym\/weblog\/2011\/11\/scaling-back-christmas-giving\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.mdmproofing.com\/iym\/weblog\/2011\/11\/scaling-back-christmas-giving\/","url":"https:\/\/www.mdmproofing.com\/iym\/weblog\/2011\/11\/scaling-back-christmas-giving\/","name":"Cutting Christmas Spending","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.mdmproofing.com\/iym\/weblog\/#website"},"datePublished":"2011-11-21T14:20:05+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.mdmproofing.com\/iym\/weblog\/#\/schema\/person\/9d5b5e0cd8c50c2ff0f4a1df112a5a42"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.mdmproofing.com\/iym\/weblog\/2011\/11\/scaling-back-christmas-giving\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.mdmproofing.com\/iym\/weblog\/2011\/11\/scaling-back-christmas-giving\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.mdmproofing.com\/iym\/weblog\/2011\/11\/scaling-back-christmas-giving\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.mdmproofing.com\/iym\/weblog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Scaling Back on Christmas Giving?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.mdmproofing.com\/iym\/weblog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.mdmproofing.com\/iym\/weblog\/","name":"Money Musings","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.mdmproofing.com\/iym\/weblog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.mdmproofing.com\/iym\/weblog\/#\/schema\/person\/9d5b5e0cd8c50c2ff0f4a1df112a5a42","name":"Michael","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/2ed3cc00ccbe418a46908aff759f0164eaa603a5944928ead8ba144229b89d7c?s=96&d=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.mdmproofing.com%2Fiym%2Fweblog%2Fwp-content%2Fthemes%2Fmusings%2Fimages%2Fuser.gif&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/2ed3cc00ccbe418a46908aff759f0164eaa603a5944928ead8ba144229b89d7c?s=96&d=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.mdmproofing.com%2Fiym%2Fweblog%2Fwp-content%2Fthemes%2Fmusings%2Fimages%2Fuser.gif&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/2ed3cc00ccbe418a46908aff759f0164eaa603a5944928ead8ba144229b89d7c?s=96&d=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.mdmproofing.com%2Fiym%2Fweblog%2Fwp-content%2Fthemes%2Fmusings%2Fimages%2Fuser.gif&r=g","caption":"Michael"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/www.mdmproofing.com\/iym\/"],"url":"https:\/\/www.mdmproofing.com\/iym\/weblog\/author\/Michael\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mdmproofing.com\/iym\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2365","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mdmproofing.com\/iym\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mdmproofing.com\/iym\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mdmproofing.com\/iym\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mdmproofing.com\/iym\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2365"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.mdmproofing.com\/iym\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2365\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2373,"href":"https:\/\/www.mdmproofing.com\/iym\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2365\/revisions\/2373"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mdmproofing.com\/iym\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2365"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mdmproofing.com\/iym\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2365"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mdmproofing.com\/iym\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2365"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}