Holiday Spending by the Numbers

How much will you be spending this holiday season? Probably less than you did last year (about $25 less), but, if last year’s any indication—when the average shopper dropped $112 more than he’d anticipated—still more than you intend to spend, whether you draw up an official budget or not. Whatever you buy, it’ll probably be on sale: 87% of shoppers won’t bite unless there’s a discount of 20% or more. And let’s hope you’re not among the 13 million-plus consumers who are trying to figure out how to pay for this upcoming holiday’s expenses when they haven’t even paid off debts from last year’s holiday season.