How much will the average American spend this holiday season?

The holidays don’t come cheap: The average American will spend over $2,000 this season, according to a recent study.

The survey of 2,000 Americans who celebrate a winter holiday looked at the breakdown of the costs of the holiday season – as well as how Americans are affected by the challenging financial climate of 2024.

According to the results, the most expensive vacation category is transportation as those planning to travel this year (64%) will spend an average of $846.

“Putting on” vacations is the next most expensive ticket: respondents reported spending an average of $658 in this category. The most expensive items include holiday food and refreshments ($155), holiday party ($123) and holiday clothing and apparel ($107).

The gift category is next on the list. On average, Americans plan to spend $559 on their loved ones this year, with the most money being spent on children ($117) and partners ($92).

Commissioned by Achieve and conducted by Talker Research, the research confirmed what many have felt this year: for the majority of respondents (61%), 2024 is in their five most financially difficult years ever.

Perhaps because of this, more than four in 10 Americans (43%) are “skinny” this holiday season and will spend less this year compared to years past.

Most (65%) are stressed about their holiday spending this year and 73% say their financial stress is taking away from their enjoyment of the season.

For nearly one in five (17%), their financial anxiety completely ruins their enjoyment of the season.

Looking ahead, a fifth (20%) believe they will not recover financially from the 2024 holiday season until May 2025 or later.

And looking at how Americans plan to pay for vacations this year, respondents reported that one-fifth of their vacation spending (20%) will be placed on a credit card.

In fact, 28% already have or plan to open a new line of credit to cover their vacation expenses.

“While the holidays can be one of the best times of the year, they can also be the most stressful,” said Brad Stroh, co-founder and chief executive officer at Achieve. “And while most want to invest money to make the season special for their loved ones, there can also be pressure from internal and external sources to spend beyond your means. It’s important to take a step back and evaluate your holiday spending habits.”

According to research, 37% of holiday goers have gone into debt in previous years due to holiday spending. And almost one in five (17%) think they are likely to go into holiday debt this year.

Looking at how this affects existing debt, the average American’s unsecured debt (unsecured debt) totals $23,554. However, a quarter (25%) said they are not even sure how much they owe.

Digging deeper, 31% of those with debt reported it has increased this year and 36% said it has stayed the same. In contrast, only 14% reported that their debt has decreased this year.

Then, looking at how this affects day-to-day spending, respondents said they spent more on groceries (48%), rent or mortgage payments (30%), insurance (29), medical bills (26 %) and daily transport (26%) ) in 2024 compared to 2023.

And looking at where they’ve had to cut back, Americans have spent/contributed less to their discretionary budgets (39%), emergency savings (26%), retirement savings (20%), gifts (31%) and travel (25%) in 2024 compared to 2023.

“This study illuminates how such a challenging financial year is affecting the holiday season and how many people are able to enjoy it,” Stroh said. “For people who are struggling this season, or just in general, there are many ways to take simple steps to improve their financial situation. These can range from creating and sticking to a budget to talking to a financial expert to getting off your credit card entirely.”

Survey methodology:

Talker Research surveyed 2,000 Americans who celebrate a winter holiday; the survey was commissioned by Achieve and administered and conducted online by Talker Research between November. 5 and November. 8, 2024.