$1 trillion USD....

VanHalen

....is the estimate for 2018 Christmas spending in the U.S.

Over $3,000 for every man, woman and child in the country. I'm dreaming of a green Christmas.

derryb

I wonder how much of that will be more debt.

blitzdude

More debt for Chinese slave labor plastic crap. Semper Fi!, Happy holidays lol

rte592

I find that hard to believe, I keep hearing on the radio 1/3 of the people are on assistance.
Must be some high rollers out there, again probably on assistance.

OPA

@rte592 said:
I find that hard to believe, I keep hearing on the radio 1/3 of the people are on assistance.
Must be some high rollers out there, again probably on assistance.

Only goes to proof, don't believe in everything that you hear or read.

derryb

@OPA said:

@rte592 said:
I find that hard to believe, I keep hearing on the radio 1/3 of the people are on assistance.
Must be some high rollers out there, again probably on assistance.

Only goes to proof, don't believe in everything that you hear or read.

Even if it is your most reliable news source? LOL

cohodk

@derryb said:

@OPA said:

@rte592 said:
I find that hard to believe, I keep hearing on the radio 1/3 of the people are on assistance.
Must be some high rollers out there, again probably on assistance.

Only goes to proof, don't believe in everything that you hear or read.

Even if it is your most reliable news source? LOL

You really do have a reading comprehension issues, don't you?

OPA

@derryb said:

@OPA said:

@rte592 said:
I find that hard to believe, I keep hearing on the radio 1/3 of the people are on assistance.
Must be some high rollers out there, again probably on assistance.

Only goes to proof, don't believe in everything that you hear or read.

Even if it is your most reliable news source? LOL

Derryb...I was not questioning the one trillion $, but the alleged 1/3 of the population being on assistance.
Quote: "I keep hearing on the radio 1/3 of the people are on assistance."

Your response reminds me of ZH headlines with only selective & partial truths.

DrBuster

I highly , highly doubt that number as xmas monies alone. If their counting all regular grocery and normal day to day for 2solid months maybe, but to call it xmas/holiday spending is bs.

VanHalen

@DrBuster said:
I highly , highly doubt that number as xmas monies alone. If their counting all regular grocery and normal day to day for 2solid months maybe, but to call it xmas/holiday spending is bs.

Published estimates of U.S. consumer spending for November and December 2018 are right at $3 trillion. $1 trillion of the $3 trillion total is being attributed to Holiday spending.

My four siblings each easily exceed to $3,000 average. I bet my sister exceeds $10k or is close. Me? Under $500, well under.

OPA

@FSF said:
I think the 1/3 refers to the elderly as well. Obviously there are tens of millions of people receiving SS & Medicare benefits.

The $1 trillion is just total retail sales during the holiday season of which most of it would be spent anyway. It's a nice round number to report as clickbait since that's what journalism has become but it's by no means all due to Christmas presents. In fact, less than a quarter of it is.

I don't consider receiving SS benefits as Govt. Assistance. I paid into that fund for almost 50 years and now I'm reaping the benefits.

DrBuster

I still can’t see it. Maybe counting all travel and such costs..I’m still stretched to think 3GS a person is holiday money for every person in the US as a whole. But if it’s 2 months solid and , say, I bought a turkey sandwich for lunch the other day and that counts as holiday spending since the food fits, well that’s misleading.

ricko

I certainly will come in on the low side of the $3K... My wife will likely exceed that .... I have no idea what is included in that number... gifts of all sorts, wine and food for celebrations, alcohol sales... The devil is in the details... Cheers, RickO

Baley

@OPA said:

@FSF said:
I think the 1/3 refers to the elderly as well. Obviously there are tens of millions of people receiving SS & Medicare benefits.

The $1 trillion is just total retail sales during the holiday season of which most of it would be spent anyway. It's a nice round number to report as clickbait since that's what journalism has become but it's by no means all due to Christmas presents. In fact, less than a quarter of it is.

I don't consider receiving SS benefits as Govt. Assistance. I paid into that fund for almost 50 years and now I'm reaping the benefits.

No, but there are some double or even triple dippers (social security, pension, veterans benefits) that go on and on about "the unfair rigged system" and "takers on the gov. dole"

Interesting, huh