There’s nothing like a little anxiety to give us that little nudge needed to change the way we do things. And, it appears, holiday spending is a source of anxiety worthy of embracing new ideas.
That finding is one of the highlights of a survey on financial affairs of Canadians conducted for BMO Bank of Montreal.
After sampling the views of more than 2,500 of us, it determined almost half – 42 per cent – plan to rewrite their New Year’s Resolutions because of the anxiety they are feeling over the rising cost of living.
While a large percentage focused on looking for ways to reduce overall spending, when it comes to holiday expenditures, more than half of the respondents said they plan to use a credit card to pay for gifts this year. They figure it usually takes them three months to pay of those balances but that time frame may be stretched a bit this year.
The survey also revealed that about two-thirds of us tend to play this one by ear, without creating a financial plan or even a household budget.
