Australians curbing their spending over the festive season
Many Australians are cutting back on their Christmas spending this year stopping at $449. SEE TIPS TO SHOP SMART
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Exclusive: Many frugal Australians are planning to curb their spending this festive season and will be ticking off their present lists by visiting bricks and mortar stores.
Some of the biggest shopping events of the year will begin next week including Black Friday and Cyber Monday and many cash-conscious shoppers are waiting in anticipation to snap up a bagful of bargains.
A new report by financial comparison website Mozo found shoppers are planning to spend $449 on gifts alone this year and about 28 per cent of consumers intend to curb their spending.
This has been blamed on a struggling economy including the rising costs of living, non-existent wage growth and increasing unemployment.
Mozo’s spokeswoman Kirsty Lamont said many Australians were feeling the pinch and had to rein in the spending, but they might not stick to a strict budget.
“Households are feeling the pinch when it comes to their finances and may not be as generous as they have been in the past on the gift-giving front,” he said.
“But we are still seeing a majority of Australians saying they are not going to be sticking to a budget.”
About 62 per cent of shoppers said they won’t set out a strict budget ahead of Christmas.
Latest Australian Retailers Association (ARA) and Roy Morgan predicted Australians would splash almost $53 billion from mid November through until Christmas Eve.
The ARA’s executive director Russell Zimmerman has urged consumers to buy from Australian stores ahead of buying from overseas outlets.
This is a 2.6 per cent increase on last year.
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The Mozo report also found 70 per cent of shoppers plan to do a majority of their purchasing in-store, despite online shopping proving popular.
Tribeca Financial’s chief executive officer Ryan Watson urged shoppers to “set yourself a spending limit and stick to it”.
“Decide how many people you want to buy for and set an individual present spending limit for each person,” he said.
“Without sound too much like a grinch, only buy presents for people that you really have to. “Better to buy say only for your family, than extended friendship group.”
Mr Watson urged shoppers to only use their debit card to pay for Christmas.
“Christmas fools buy presents on ‘buy now, pay later’ and/or credit cards and spend at least the next 12 months making the repayments,” he said.
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• Go-To Skin Care’s Face Hero, $45
• UE WonderBoom Bluetooth speaker, $89
• Happy Socks, $20
• NPW Sound Machine, $10
• Goal Zero Lighthouse Mini Lantern, $80
• Heidel Christmas Cottage, $25
• Wooden crate playset, $9
Source: Mozo