An overwhelming majority (87%) of moms say they plan to cut spending this holiday season, and 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.
The survey of 1,000 mothers, which was undertaken to discover how the economy is affecting their 2008 holiday spending, also found that moms plan to use a variety of ways to save money this year, including spending more time looking for deals and comparing prices.
Additional survey findings:
- 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 look for 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.