Not this year, grandpa
An overwhelming majority (87%) of moms plan to cut spend this holiday season. 27% say they will scale back on gifts for the adults in their lives, while spending the same amount as they have in the past on their children, according to research conducted by MomConnection for Parenting Magazine, MarketingCharts reports.
The survey of 1,000 mothers, undertaken to discover how the economy affects their 2008 holiday spending, also found moms plan to use a variety of ways to save money this year, including spending more time looking for deals and comparing prices.
Deloitte's Annual Holiday Survey reported a similar trend: disenchanted by the economy, nearly six in 10 consumers plan to reduce their holiday spending.
Most also plan to pursue sales aggressively. As a boon to holiday marketers, people will still spend an average of $532 on gifts this year.
More findings from Parenting Magazine:
- 35% of moms say they're not going to scale back on the number of gifts they're buying, but will scale back on costs by spending more time seeking bargains and comparison-shopping.
- 32% plan to set a specific amount of money aside for shopping, then stick to their budget.
- 12% will seek less expensive holiday activities (such as going out for a holiday family dinner) in lieu of spending on gifts.
- 10% will organize a gift swap, so everyone in the family gets one gift of equal value.
