This Fourth of July, more Americans are doing the opposite: barbecuing instead of buying.
A fifth of Americans, 21%, said they don't plan to celebrate Independence Day
and those who are plan to spend less than last year, according to a
survey released Sunday of a little more than 1,000 people by Visa.
That's
up from the 18% who said they weren't joining in July 4 festivities
last year. Those who plan to celebrate are spending an average of $191
on everything from travel to food to fireworks, down from $216 last
year, the survey shows.
On the other hand,
nearly half of those celebrating will watch or light fireworks,
according to a monthly consumer survey by the National Retail Federation. And close to 68% of consumers said they'll host or attend a barbecue, the most in the nine-year history of the NRF survey.
Unpatriotic? Or smart for Americans' wallets?
"My
hope is that people have really sort of changed their priorities," says
Jason Alderman, director of Visa's financial education programs. "The Founding Fathers do not want us to go into debt to buy sparklers."
Midwesterners
plan to spend the most at an average of $211, while Northeasterners
will spend the least, an average of $171, the Visa survey indicates.
Any
drop in spending and celebrating is most likely due to the fact the
holiday falls on a Wednesday this year, consumer psychologist Kit Yarrow
says.
And she adds, "I don't believe that
Americans have ever shopped to be 'patriotic.' " People really don't
look at spending in a macro sense — it's very individualistic."
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