WalletHub has released its annual Post-Holiday Shopping Survey, which revealed that 39% of Americans believe they overspent during the holidays, and 164 million Americans are worried about saving enough money in 2021.
“The US economy will get back to normal in a lot of ways during 2021, but in other respects, pre-pandemic normalcy might take years to regain,” said Jill Gonzalez, WalletHub analyst. “Increased vaccinations will allow for a lot of activities to resume, yet it may take years until certain sectors of the economy fully recover, such as business travel, for example. It might take a while for people to adjust psychologically, too. According to a new WalletHub survey, 53% of people don’t expect the economy to get back to normal in 2021.”
According to the survey, nearly 4 in 10 Americans say they overspent during the 2020 holiday season, with a further 1 in 3 people said the 2020 holiday season was worth going into debt for – a 46% increase over the prior year. However, WalletHub has projected that US consumers will end 2020 with an $89 billion net decrease in credit card debt when the final data for the year comes in. Prior to the holiday shopping season, the coronavirus pandemic had a positive impact on household debt, with US consumers paying down a record $118.8 billion through the first three quarters of the year.
Gonzalez added: “People should focus on saving as much money as possible in 2021. Roughly 164 million Americans are worried about saving enough money this year, according to WalletHub’s latest survey. That’s almost double the number of people worried about getting out of debt, which makes a lot of sense when you consider the income insecurity that so many Americans are facing, not to mention the fact that we’ve already paid off a significant amount of the debt hanging over our heads. The best ways to maximise savings are to make a budget that reduces spending and to automate monthly transfers into a savings account that you don’t touch except in emergencies.”
