Australians are planning on spending about $7 billion less this Christmas season as cost of living pressures weigh on one of the most expensive times of the year.<\/p>\n
New data from comparison site Finder, shared exclusively with News24.com.au, showed Australians will spend an average of about $1400 across presents, travel, eating and drinking out, entertaining and alcohol this Christmas.<\/p>\n
This is down $351 per person from $1750 in 2025, marking a 20 per cent decline.<\/p>\n
Australia\u2019s total is expected to decline from $37.4 billion last year to $30.5 billion in the 2026 season.<\/p>\n
It comes as inflation remains outside the RBA\u2019s target band and interest rates were lifted five times this year, while rates were cut three times in 2025.<\/p>\n
Finder\u2019s research shows Australians will spend $502 per person on flights and travel, about $200 less than last year.<\/p>\n
Spending on presents will fall from $438 to $367 per person while food and entertainment is expected to fall from $269 to $220 per person.<\/p>\n
Finder\u2019s personal finance expert Sarah Megginson said Australians are reassessing their holiday budgets under the cost of living crisis.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe holidays can be one of the most expensive times of the year, and Australians are taking a hard look at what they can realistically afford,\u201d Ms Megginson said.<\/p>\n
\u201cTravel is a major expense, so pulling back on flights and holiday plans can make a big difference to the overall budget.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen the cost of everyday essentials is already taking a big bite out of household income, there\u2019s less money left over for the silly season.\u201d<\/p>\n
Australians are also planning on winding back their booze budgets from $123 to $105 while the smallest cut was on food, where spending is edging down from $215 to $205 per person.<\/p>\n
Ms Megginson said Australians can still buy all their holiday essentials while spending less.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe trick is to decide what matters most to you, rather than trying to do everything and paying for it later,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cLook at the big-ticket costs first, particularly travel and accommodation, and be realistic about what you can afford before you book.<\/p>\n
\u201cDon\u2019t leave booking til the last minute, because prices rise the closer you are to the date.<\/p>\n
\u201cConsider cutting back on gifts and doing joint presents, Secret Santa or a gift of service instead.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Australians are planning on spending about $7 billion less this Christmas season as cost of living pressures weigh…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":954001,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[521651,418955,518516,521663,521667,521689,521668,521658,521661,521690,521681,521677,521670,521684,521676,4891,521664,386377,521669,521660,421897,521662,521680,521687,476909,411391,521674,389464,64,63,42040,9461,32442,99,484535,5503,18152,41262,521655,164,521656,278325,521691,18154,521665,484728,521671,521678,1295,521682,521672,48182,521652,152443,44773,5465,5626,521686,45755,467031,388964,295178,521692,413427,428705,521654,391372,2950,20246,39916,9074,14825,521683,5265,378904,5939,419414,521653,378384,435462,471314,386172,521688,521679,377403,521673,521657,429199,378969,521685,521675,203609,521666,364611,394691,521659,3792],"class_list":["post-954000","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-economy","tag-s-personal-finance-expert-sarah-megginson","tag-s-research","tag-s-target-band","tag-s-total","tag-123-to-105","tag-521689","tag-215-to-205","tag-269-to-220","tag-30-5-billion","tag-521690","tag-37-4-billion","tag-438-to-367","tag-521670","tag-7-billion-dilemma","tag-7b-dilemma","tag-4891","tag-a-7-billion-dilemma","tag-a-20","tag-a-big-bite","tag-a-big-difference","tag-a-gift","tag-a-hard-look","tag-a-major-expense","tag-about-1400","tag-about-7-billion","tag-about-200","tag-all-their-holiday-essentials","tag-an-average","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australian-households","tag-australians","tag-budgets","tag-business","tag-cent-decline","tag-christmas","tag-comparison-site-finder","tag-cost","tag-eating-and-drinking-out","tag-economy","tag-entertaining-and-alcohol","tag-everyday-essentials","tag-family-budgets","tag-finder","tag-five-rate-rises","tag-five-times","tag-flights-and-holiday-plans","tag-flights-and-travel","tag-food","tag-food-and-entertainment","tag-getty-images-finder","tag-gifts","tag-high-inflation-and-rate-rises","tag-holiday-season","tag-household-income","tag-inflation","tag-interest-rates","tag-joint-presents","tag-last-year","tag-less-money","tag-living-crisis","tag-living-pressures","tag-ms-megginson","tag-new-data","tag-news24-com-au","tag-particularly-travel-and-accommodation","tag-persistent-inflation","tag-person","tag-picture","tag-presents","tag-prices","tag-rates","tag-secret-santa","tag-service","tag-snapp-business","tag-spending","tag-the-2026-season","tag-the-big-ticket-costs","tag-the-cost","tag-the-date","tag-the-holidays","tag-the-last-minute","tag-the-most-expensive-times","tag-the-overall-budget","tag-the-rba","tag-the-silly-season","tag-the-smallest-cut","tag-the-trick","tag-the-year","tag-their-booze-budgets","tag-their-holiday-budgets","tag-this-christmas","tag-this-christmas-season","tag-this-year","tag-three-times","tag-til","tag-travel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/954000","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=954000"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/954000\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/954001"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=954000"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=954000"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=954000"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}