U.S. Shoppers Suffer Holiday Spending Hangover

Are you a big spender? If so, you are not alone. A new survey published by Consumer Reports indicates that Christmas “holiday debt hangover” will be especially heavy again this year. Among shoppers who used a credit card, holiday debt is predicted to average $626. Yet for some, the bills will be much higher. Seventeen percent of credit card users will have racked up $1,000 or more (DailyLocal.com, Dec. 26, 2006).

Although the extra debt is bad news for gift-givers, it is great news for credit card companies, who will soon be making billions of dollars in missed payment penalties and interest charges from people who do not pay off their balances at the end of the month.

In fact, almost one in four credit card users will not pay off Christmas bills until March or later. Talk about “holiday debt hangover”—that’s one quarter of the year!

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