TORONTO, Feb. 6, 2019 /CNW/ - Overspending dropped
significantly among Canadian shoppers this past holiday season, to
an average of $384 (vs. $530 in 2017), down 28% – the lowest level in
eight years, according to the annual RBC Post-Holiday Spending
& Saving Insights Poll.
The biggest drop was among 18- to 34-year-olds and women, who
cut their overspending by almost $200
($363 and $379 respectively) compared to 2017. While there
was only a slight decline in the number of Canadians who spent more
than expected (40% vs. 42%) the good news is that almost one-third
(30%) of these overspenders report they have already paid off their
seasonal shopping spree.
"We're all tempted to toss aside the budget during the holiday
season, but what a good news story to see that Canadians showed
restraint this year and far fewer are entering 2019 with holiday
debt weighing them down," said Vinita
Savani, Vice-President, GICs & Savings, RBC. "Canadians
are starting 2019 off on the right foot – their next step will be
managing their spending throughout the year and seeing if they can
build up their savings too."
The RBC poll also surveyed Canadians about their ability to save
and found it continues to be a challenge. When asked if they had
any idea how much more they might be able to set aside above what
they are currently saving, one-quarter (23%) responded that they
weren't saving regularly now and weren't expecting to be able to
save anything 'extra'.
"Regular savings is challenging for many people – can I find
anything extra to save and how much if I can?" added Savani. "We
heard the challenges and developed NOMI Find & Save to do all
the work for you. By proactively analyzing your spending and
saving, NOMI finds extra money we think you won't miss and
automatically sets it aside for you in a savings account. Before
you know it, you've saved enough to start daydreaming about what
you will do with your 'found money'. And we know that this past
year, some of these found savings helped take care of people's gift
lists."
Since launching in October 2017,
NOMI Find & Save has helped Canadians save more than
$60 million – with active NOMI
Find & Save clients saving on average $150 per month. In addition, NOMI Find &
Save is now available to joint account holders, helping even more
clients automatically accelerate their savings.
National poll highlights
Average amount spent by Canadian holiday shoppers per gift
category:
- giving experiences to family and friends ($129)
- gift cards ($119)
- electronics ($102)
- toys ($96)
- entertainment ($51)
- gifts for pets ($29)
- giving to charities on behalf of family and friends
($28)
Average amount Canadian holiday shoppers spent over their
budgets by age group:
- 18 to 34: $363
- 35 to 54: $434
- 55+: $334
Actions overspenders with unpaid holiday bills are planning
to take to get their finances back on track:
- Spend less on entertainment, lunch and coffee (30%)
- Spend less on day-to-day living expenses (25%)
- Carry costs on credit card; paying off the balance in two
months or more (20%)
- Carry costs on credit card; paying off the balance immediately
(14%)
Regional comparisons & national gender findings
Overspent?
|
NAT'L
|
BC
|
AB
|
SK /
MB
|
ON
|
QC
|
AC
|
M
|
F
|
Yes
|
40%
|
43%
|
39%
|
48%
|
43%
|
34%
|
33%
|
39%
|
41%
|
By how
much?
|
$384
|
$464
|
$404
|
$500
|
$410
|
$230
|
$357
|
$389
|
$379
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
How
overspenders will pay
holiday bills?
|
NAT'L
|
BC
|
AB
|
SK /
MB
|
ON
|
QC
|
AC
|
M
|
F
|
Spend less on
lunch &
coffee, entertainment
|
30%
|
34%
|
34%
|
28%
|
26%
|
34%
|
37%
|
29%
|
31%
|
Spend less on
day-to-
day living expenses
|
25%
|
32%
|
24%
|
26%
|
24%
|
21%
|
29%
|
25%
|
25%
|
Carry costs on
credit
card; pay off balance
in two months or more
|
20%
|
15%
|
20%
|
21%
|
22%
|
18%
|
19%
|
22%
|
18%
|
Carry costs on
credit
card; pay off balance
immediately
|
14%
|
14%
|
7%
|
20%
|
16%
|
14%
|
7%
|
15%
|
13%
|
Carry costs on
my line of
credit
|
8%
|
6%
|
9%
|
18%
|
7%
|
6%
|
5%
|
10%
|
6%
|
I've already
paid
my holidays bills off
|
30%
|
28%
|
35%
|
36%
|
30%
|
29%
|
28%
|
31%
|
30%
|
Don't know how
I'll pay
holidays bills off yet
|
8%
|
9%
|
3%
|
6%
|
9%
|
6%
|
12%
|
7%
|
8%
|
Average amount
spent
by holiday shoppers
per gift category
|
NAT'L
|
BC
|
AB
|
SK /
MB
|
ON
|
QC
|
AC
|
M
|
F
|
Toys
|
$96
|
$85
|
$116
|
$106
|
$107
|
$77
|
$80
|
$93
|
$99
|
Electronics
(e.g.
mobile devices,
computers, gaming
consoles)
|
$102
|
$106
|
$92
|
$84
|
$108
|
$93
|
$124
|
$132
|
$74
|
Entertainment
(e.g.
DVDs, games/video
games, books /
eBooks, iTunes)
|
$51
|
$47
|
$62
|
$50
|
$52
|
$48
|
$51
|
$60
|
$43
|
Giving experiences
to
family, friends
|
$129
|
$110
|
$114
|
$168
|
$149
|
$97
|
$153
|
$137
|
$122
|
Gift
cards
|
$119
|
$118
|
$95
|
$187
|
$118
|
$103
|
$150
|
$113
|
$124
|
Gifts for
pets
|
$29
|
$21
|
$29
|
$29
|
$36
|
$20
|
$36
|
$33
|
$25
|
Giving to
charities on
behalf of yourself or
family, friends
|
$28
|
$16
|
$23
|
$44
|
$32
|
$26
|
$27
|
$34
|
$21
|
About NOMI and NOMI Find & Save
RBC continues to introduce a variety of digital capabilities to
evolve into a digitally-enabled relationship bank. Since the
introduction of NOMI in the RBC Mobile app, NOMI has helped
our clients understand more about their everyday finances so they
can save and spend wisely. Keeping clients connected to their money
so they can confidently make better financial decisions, NOMI
proactively analyzes current and past financial behavior to provide
personalized insights. The RBC Mobile app is the
most used money management platform in Canada, available to over 4 million RBC
clients. NOMI Find & Save proactively analyzes a
client's spending behaviours to find extra money that won't be
missed, and automatically sets it aside as savings. Since
launching in October 2017, NOMI Find
& Save has helped Canadians save more than $60 million – with active NOMI Find &
Save clients saving on average $150
per month. In addition, NOMI Find & Save is now available
to joint account holders, helping even more clients automatically
accelerate their savings.
About the RBC 2019 Post-Holiday Spending & Saving
Insights Poll
These are the findings of an Ipsos
poll conducted on behalf of RBC from January
2 to 5, 2019. A sample of 2,001 Canadians aged 18+ was
surveyed using the Ipsos I-Say panel. Quota sampling and weighting
was employed to ensure the sample's composition reflects that of
the actual population of Canadians, according to Census data. The
precision of online polls is measured using credibility interval.
In this case, the results are accurate to within ±2.5 percentage
points, 19 times out of 20, of what the results would have been had
the entire population of adults in Canada been surveyed. Credibility intervals
will be wider for smaller subsets of the population.
SOURCE RBC Royal Bank