50 Million Americans Still Paying Off 2018 Holiday Debt

As many Americans prepare to dip into their bank accounts in the next few weeks to purchase family gifts for the upcoming Christmas season, a new U.S. holiday spending report claims that there is a large portion of the population still chipping away at holiday debt from 2018.

According to a November, 2019, shopping report from the website Nerdwallet.com, most Americans will continue to spend despite one third of the U.S. population fearing a looming recession. Over 200 million people in the United States will buy Christmas gifts before the end of 2019, with more than $180 billion spent in total.

For the first time in the nearly 15 years I've been with my wife, we put a spending cap of $100 on each other. This is largely due to the fact that we purchased a new home in early November, and are in the process of trying to eliminate joint debt. With two kids under the roof as well, and my wife having a large family consisting of 10 more likely gift receivers, the two of us combined will probably end up dropping somewhere in the ballpark of $500 to $600 on Christmas presents.

The spending report went on to claim that close to 50 million in the United States are still paying debt off from the 2018 holiday season. On average, an estimated $800 will be spent by each U.S. household on gifts. Seven in 10 people spending in the country will be charging their gifts, according to the data.

This just might be the first year in memory for me, that I WILL NOT be busting out the plastic to purchase gifts.

Happy spending America!