Visa USA Surveys Holiday Spending Plans

This same survey also found that Americans say they spend an average of $1,224.82 on gifts and entertaining over the holiday season.

"One of the best ways consumers can ensure that holiday cheer doesn't turn into shopper's remorse is to sit down and prepare a budget," says Jason Alderman, director of Visa USA's Practical Money Skills for Life program. "Holiday shopping and entertaining comes down to a choice between needs and wants, so making a realistic budget and sticking with it is critical."

To help consumers in this area, Visa USA has launched a free online Holiday Budgeting Center, available at http://www.practicalmoneyskills.com/holiday, to help consumers avoid the temptation to overspend this holiday shopping season. This comprehensive Center features a variety of online tools to help consumers figure out how much to spend, along with help constructing a shopping budget and a printable gift log to track spending. There are also tools to assist with making a budget for hosting holiday parties and for travel costs, for those who are spending the holidays away from home. The Holiday Budgeting Center is part of Visa's award-winning financial education program, Practical Money Skills for Life.

Additional results from the survey found that 58 percent of cardholders who were surveyed say they spend $1,000 or less during the December holiday season. Over a quarter of those surveyed spend between $1,000 and $2,500. Two percent typically spend over $5,000 on gifts and entertaining while an equal number plan on spending nothing. Cardholders age 50 and over report spending an average of $1,130 for the holidays, $202 less than those ages 18- 49 who say they spend an average of $1,332. Not surprisingly, college graduates report spending more on average for the holidays ($1,380) than those who do not have a college degree ($1,115), the survey results found.