Consumers tighten their belts for Christmas

Several consumer surveys released over the past couple of weeks paint a picture of households doing Christmas on a budget this year.

In the latest Westpac Melbourne Institute Index of Consumer Sentiment, released last week, respondents were asked about their Christmas spending plans, compared with the previous year. Thirty-eight per cent said "less", 50 per cent said "same" and 12 per cent said "more".

Westpac chief economist Bill Evans said: "The net balance of minus 26 per cent is the worst since 2008 and a marked deterioration relative to the past five years."

Yesterday Commonwealth Bank released results of a survey showing that consumers expect to spend less this year than last.

CBA has estimated that average Christmas spending per head on gifts, holidays, entertainment, extra food and drink and Boxing Day sales (covering the period from December 1 to January 6 next year) would be A$1079 per head, compared with $1116 per head in 2013.

This adds up to an estimated total Christmas spend of $17.8 billion, compared with $18.4 billion last year.

ME Bank also released the results of a Christmas spending survey yesterday, coming to much the same conclusion.

ME Bank chief marketing officer Rebecca James said there was an elevated level of "financial discomfort" because of low growth in household incomes, the impact of Australian Government Budget measures on family benefits and concerns about savings levels.

James said consumers were reluctant to use their credit cards and this would have an impact on overall spending.

According to ME Bank's analysis, credit card purchases accounted for $623 of an average $1635 per household spent between December 17 and December 24 last year.

"We expect spending on credit to fall this year," James said.