Canadians tightened belts during holidays

Canadians gave themselves the gift of debt management over the holidays and started 2013 with confidence, according to the RBC Post-Holiday Spending Poll.

About seven-in-10 Canadians (69%) kept their holiday spending in check, led by residents in Quebec (72%), British Columbia (70%) and Saskatchewan and Manitoba (70%).

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Canadians used a variety of strategies to help them stick to their holiday budgets, including avoiding debt or increasing debt loads (41%, up one point from a year ago) or keeping track of spending (31%, up four points from last year).

Some respondents said they controlled costs by focusing on only spending what they had (28%, up two points from the 2012 survey). The desire to reach a savings goal also kept some Canadians from spending more than intended (13%, up four points from a year ago).

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Almost one-third of Canadians (31%, unchanged from last year) said they spent more than intended during the holidays, led by residents in Ontario and Atlantic Canada (tied at 33% each).

Nationally, Canadians overspent their budget by an average of $463, down slightly from the $467 overspent from the previous year.

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Among Canadians who overspent during the holidays, most plan to cut back on day-to-day living expenses such as groceries, phone and cable (43%), entertainment (41%), or coffee and lunch money (32%) to get back on track. Some Canadians are cutting back on debt either through their use of credit cards (38%) or lines of credit (15%).

Staff

The staff of Advisor.ca have been covering news for financial advisors since 1998.