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If you thought last year was tough, brace yourself for this holiday season. The stock market may be up, but more than 7 million jobs have been lost in the last two years, and unemployment has climbed to a 25-year high.
For American families, that means a scaled-back holiday of fewer gifts, less expense, and ramped-down celebrations. In fact according to a new poll by the National Retail Federation, more than 84 percent of people plan to clamp down on their wallets and spend less on gift-giving than last year. And when you think about it, that’s not such a bad thing.
“Remember that you’re not the only one concerned with saving money this holiday season,” says Farnoosh Torabi, author of the personal-finance guide You’re So Money and money coach on SOAPnet’s Bank of Mom and Dad. “Our ‘new normal’ economy embraces the less-is-more mentality — and so should you. There’s no shame in saving money.”
After all, if you’re already out of work or just scared about losing your job, financial necessity has a way of focusing the mind. A new poll predicts we will spend about as much on gifts this holiday season, $638, as last year — which was smack in the middle of the financial meltdown, and “one of the worst holiday seasons in recent memory,” according to Gallup.
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