COLLEEN OBRIEN

Holiday spending expected to set massive records in 2018

Nov 29, 2018, 6:35 AM

Holiday spending at Christmas...

(AP)

(AP)

With the gift-giving season kicking into full gear, holiday spending is poised to set records across the United States.

RELATED: Find Santa photos, trees, and winter fun with our Holiday Map

Colleen O’Brien of Seattle’s Morning News talked with Bankrate data analyst Adrian Garcia, who warned that the holiday spending season can cause undue pressure on a variety of groups.

“This time of year, we’re all feeling stress about reaching deeper into our wallets than we’re comfortable with — 45 percent of people responded to our survey saying they’re feeling the pressure,” Garcia said.

Specifically, Garcia noted that parents are the group that experiences the most stress, with 54 percent of them “saying they feel uncomfortable with how much they’re expected to spend.” Additionally, women feel more pressure than men, while millennials feel it more than baby boomers.

For O’Brien, despite the stress, the timing couldn’t be better for teaching children to manage their expectations.

“I feel like this a great time to teach your child restraint [and] teach your child respect for the things that they have,” she noted. “Truly I feel like it’s a challenge to teach my daughter, ‘okay, if you do get these things, we’re going to donate them.’ It’s a swap for her because she needs to learn that she’s not just given things.”

“I think that’s what financial experts would recommend, that we do have those discussions with our children,” Garcia agreed.

Meanwhile, millennials are doing what they can to find ways around spending big.

“The interesting thing is that millennials are putting their own spin on how to deal with stress. Millennials have a trend of going to curated thrift stores — they’ve really helped to revitalize that industry,” Garcia said. “Another thing millennials are more likely going to do is make homemade gifts.”

Overall, Garcia said experts expect upwards of $1 trillion in total spending over the holiday season, and that on average people are expected to spend $1,000 each. Those numbers would represent a record high for holiday spending in the United States.

Colleen OBrien

Photo: An unoccupied recovery area, left, and an abortion procedure room are seen at a Planned Pare...

Colleen O'Brien

Colleen O’Brien: Female oncologist gives advice for women choosing a doctor

Women's History Month comes with celebrations. Yet, society has a long way to go regarding treating women as equally important as men.

5 days ago

Image: Washington's 2nd District Representative J.T. Wilcox is resigning....

Colleen O'Brien

Colleen O’Brien: Rep. Wilcox explains why he’s leaving the legislature

After 14 years in the state legislature, Rep. J.T. Wilcox is resigning. He stated that younger leadership needs to take over.

27 days ago

AI layoffs...

Colleen O'Brien

Colleen O’Brien: Good news for jobs amid massive layoffs — AI engineers

Mike said there have been roughly 200,000 layoffs, broadly speaking, in the last two years. Amazon, Apple, Microsoft, Google and Meta are all involved.

2 months ago

This undated, colorized electron microscope image made available by the U.S. National Institutes of...

Colleen O'Brien

The SMN Interviews: Latest COVID-19 variant escapes natural immunity

The most prevalent COVID-19 variant circulating right now is JN.1 and is a sub-variant of omicron. JN.1 is very infectious, according to Dr. Keith Jerome.

2 months ago

Image: Empty food plates are seen in London....

Colleen O'Brien

The SMN Interviews: How the ‘Clean Plate Club’ ruined us all

"People trying to use willpower to change eating habits is not something that works very well ..." Dr. Judson Brewer said to Seattle's Morning News.

2 months ago

Kindergarten...

Colleen O'Brien

‘Childcare reaching a crisis point,’ State House tries to come up with answers

Two competing childcare bills in the state House claim to have a solution to the childcare crisis.

2 months ago

Holiday spending expected to set massive records in 2018