[Janelle Ward]

Do you need a guide to how much you’re likely to spend at Christmas? Check out these projections from researcher Finder.

If you’re an ‘average’ Aussie, you’ll spend $1361 – up from $1232 in 2021, according to the national representative survey of 1054 respondents. Nationally, the holiday spend will be $27.3 billion – up from $23.9 billion 12 months ago.

You’re expected to spend $458 on accommodation and flights over the holiday season, and $411 on presents.

Women ($1580) are predicted to spend $450 more than men ($1123).

The research also suggests some Aussies will be having a boozy Christmas, spending $104 per person on alcohol over the silly season – equivalent to $2.08 billion across Australia.

Consumers are expected to spend $248 each on food, and $140 on eating out.

How does that sit given your expected holiday spending? Is it no surprise that women spend more than men?

[KSS]

And in the same breath, people are complaining about the cost of living, unaffordable rents/mortgages, high petrol prices and on and on and on. Yet they are spending more than ever even allowing for inflation. Me thinks the cost of living is not as great as some would make out.

Another example, a couple of people I heard about, both work full-time in average-paying jobs, one is taking an extended holiday to Europe; the other, a very expensive cruise to Antarctica. Both are complaining they can no longer afford their mortgages (which were not taken out in the last couple of years but decades ago) such that they are considering selling their residences. Its all about priorities!

[Author]

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