Survey Says Americans will be Charging Heavily this Holiday Season

Now that the Thanksgiving turkeys have been carved, Black Friday has come and gone, and Christmas songs have begun to hit the airwaves, the 2006 Holiday shopping season is officially underway. If you were asked to leave the credit card at home, could you still manage this year’s purchases?

According to a new national survey by InCharge? Education Foundation ("InCharge"), a national nonprofit organization specializing in personal finance education and research, nearly half (46%) of Americans said that they always spend more than they planned and significantly more Americans with children (more than half) believe they can’t really afford to spend as much as they do over the holidays.

Additionally, nearly half (48%) of Americans said that they usually take up to six months to pay off their credit card purchases.

"Many people have a harder time balancing their feelings of generosity with the realities of their modest incomes, and that is a surefire way to give yourself the post-holiday blues come January," noted Rebecca Stiehl, President of the InCharge Education Foundation.

However, with this year’s unusually early Thanksgiving holiday, there are a full five weekends between Thanksgiving and Christmas, leaving plenty of time for this year’s gift-giver to shop smart without loading up the credit cards.

"For many people, it is not too late to plot out where they are in their holiday spending, and adjust accordingly during these remaining few weeks," adds Stiehl. "The key is to keep your budget in perspective, and use your credit card responsibly."

While it might feel good to present everyone in the family with a new computer, resist the urge to ‘keep up with the Joneses.’

"We’re in the business of counseling people how to get out of burdensome debt, but we also take seriously our responsibility to help educate people to stay within their means," said Stiehl. "And the truth is, there are plenty of ways to show friends and family that you care on the holidays that won’t leave you drowning in debt come January 1."