Posted on 11/22/2006 6:13:43 AM PST by Hydroshock
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- Almost a third of Americans plan to spend less on the holidays this year, mainly because they need to use their money for daily expenses, according to a survey released Tuesday.
The Consumer Federation of America and the Credit Union National Association found 32 percent of shoppers want to spend less than they did during the 2005 holidays. About half of the survey's roughly 1,000 respondents said they would like to spend about the same. Only 15 percent intended to spend more.
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Rising energy costs are forcing many to deck the halls more sparsely this year, the report found, but general household expenses and tight family finances are also dragging down holiday budgets. More than 25 percent in the survey said the prices of gifts were simply too high.
But shoppers do not always follow through on their spending plans, said CUNA's chief economist Bill Hampel.
"Our experience with this survey is consumers tend to say they will spend less than they actually do, and our overall survey findings are slightly weaker than last year," he said in a statement. "This suggests many households will feel financially 'hung over' in a couple of months unless they do something about it now
(Excerpt) Read more at money.cnn.com ...
Sorry. I have a really bad cold. Maybe I need more tea...
There goes that article's credibility. Gas prices have trended down $0.80 / gallon since August. Howing does that equate to "rising"?
My light bill and gas bill are still up about 50% over where they were 2 years ago. As for gas, yes it has dropped, but it is still higher then it was 2 years ago. The cost of energy for my family is tracked in MS Money adn I can tell you it is up totally over 60% since this time 2 years ago.
Sure they do. My wife says his every year, then goes out and blows more money than ever before on crap we don't need.
-ccm
Well, maybe you need to get your HVAC systems a checkup.
In , 2004 the average retail cost per kilowatt hour was 8.91 cents. In August 2006 , the average retail cost per kilowatt was 9.53 cents per hour.
Perhaps you can explain to me how your "greater than 60% increase" is due to prices rising 5.5% .
Example, my light bill was $142 a month on balanced billing, it is now $262. We live in the same house with the same usage and I even up teh insulation in attic.
That's just a matter of discipline and priorities. We hit the wall on "crap we don't need" last year, and gave everyone certificates from the Smile Train - for our close friends and family, we spent $250 per, on surgeries to fix cleft palates in children. We told our friends that if there was anything they needed more than that, we would get it for them.
So far, no one has said they need, or want, anything more than that.
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