Aussies to spend $25 billion this festive season

| December 6, 2018

Australians will spend billions on Christmas this year with presents to be the number one expense, according to new research by finder.com.au, the site that compares virtually everything.

The survey of 2,013 respondents found that Aussies plan to spend $1,325 on average this festive season, with women racking up more ($1,406) than men ($1,241).

With over 19 million adults in Australia, this means Christmas spending collectively will reach $25 billion.

Aussies plan to splash out the most on gifts, forking out $464 on presents each. We’ll also be celebrating with a couple of drinks, spending an average of $131 on alcohol or $2.5 billion collectively.

Kate Browne, Personal Finance Expert at finder.com.au said that with only 6 weeks to go till Christmas, the spending season has well and truly begun.

“Christmas is a notoriously expensive time of year but just because it’s the silly season doesn’t mean you should throw all financial sense out the window.”

“Don’t get caught financing the spending flurry with a credit card unless you plan to pay it off in full before charges apply,” she said.

When it comes to Christmas travel, Aussies are allotting $444 for holidays. Over $1 billion will be spent collectively on decorations this Christmas, as Aussies deck the halls.

“It might seem too early to even start thinking about Christmas but if you start your shopping now you can make the most of all the sales in the lead up to Christmas, such as Black Friday and Click Frenzy.”

“Consider switching to a 0% purchase credit card. Any purchases you make during the festive season won’t accrue any interest for as long as 14 months.”

Western Australians are the biggest spenders this Christmas, expecting to spend an average of $1,416.

For more figures, please visit our Christmas Spending hub:
https://www.finder.com.au/christmas-spending-statistics-2018

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