In last week’s installment, we talked about the amount people spend on Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s Eve. We also talked about the shock many people experience when their credit card statements arrive in January and they see how much they really spent during the last couple of months of the previous year.

While Martin Luther King’s Birthday isn’t a gift-giving holiday, many people look forward to the savings they believe they’ll get from the sales associated with the holiday. Following MLK’s Birthday, we have the Super Bowl. Even if you’re not a football fan, many people get together on that Sunday either with friends and family to watch the game or movies despite of the game. Those not going to family or friends for a gathering may go to a bar or other social place to watch the game because of the large screens available there.

We may not look at the Super Bowl as a holiday, but it is an occasion to spend unplanned money on. According to the National Retail Federation’s article “2020 Super Bowl: Consumers to spend $17.2 billion⁶ – The latest consumer spending data from NRF and Prosper Insights & Analytics’ 2020 Super Bowl survey suggests this may be one of the strongest Super Bowls yet, with nearly 194 million adults saying they have plans for the big game. Those watching the event expect to spend an average of $88.65 on food and beverages, merchandise, and party supplies, for a total of $17.2 billion nationwide.

Shortly on the heels of the Super Bowl is Valentine’s Day. NRF (National Retail Federation)Record spending for Valentine’s Day 2020⁷ article had the following data for Cupid’s day:

• Consumers said they plan to spend an average of $196.31, up 21 percent over last year’s previous record of $161.96.
• Spending is expected to total $27.4 billion, up 32 percent from last year’s record $20.7 billion.

Just like January has the MLK Holiday, February has President’s Day. This is another non-gift giving holiday where consumers often spend beyond their planned amount if they even planned how much they were going to spend on the sales. Almost a month after President’s Day, we have another partying holiday that many participate in, but rarely budget for. That would be St. Patrick’s Day. Kerry O’Shea’s article for Irish Central, entitled “St. Patrick’s Day 2019 will see Americans spend more on average than ever before.⁸

Research predicts that Americans will be spending more on average than ever before for St. Patrick’s Day 2019.”⁷ stated that In their annual St. Patrick’s Day consumer predictions, The National Retail Federation predicts that each American who celebrates St. Patrick’s Day in 2019 will spend on average $40.18. After St. Patrick’s Day comes Easter where the National Retail Foundation said that $151.00 was spent by the average person in 2018.⁹

Some years, April is one of the few months without a holiday or traditional partying event. Moving into May you have Mother’s Day and Memorial Day. The average consumer spent $60.16 on their mothers (a 43% increase from 2018) according to the Good Housekeeping article “Experts Reveal How Much You Should Actually Spend on Mother’s Day Gifts” ¹⁰.

With Memorial Day being the unofficial start of summer, most people either take a vacation or host/attend a party for the holiday. In The Motley Fool article by Daniel Kline titled “Here’s How Much Americans Spend on Memorial Day – It’s not all about the barbecue — but that’s no small part of it.”,¹¹ he notes that Americans spent an average of $48 on gas throughout the 2018 Memorial Day weekend — an increase from $41 the previous year. Travelers also spent more on hotels, in particular on the holiday itself. Total hotel spending on that Monday was 37% higher than the average day in 2018 — and higher than the other days of the holiday weekend.

Of course, people don’t just travel for this holiday to visit friends and family. They also take advantage of the warmer weather to get outside and enjoy amusement parks, carnivals, and other tourist attractions:

• On Saturday, May 26, total transactions at amusement parks/carnivals/circuses came in at more than double (101%) the average day in 2018, with customers spending an average of $89.
• Tourist attraction/exhibit spending was 97% higher than the average day in 2018 with consumers an average of  $81.
• Aquarium spending was 169% higher than on an average day in 2018 with visitors spending an average of $60.

But most of all, Memorial Day weekend features gatherings around the grill. And all that barbecuing leads to a notable increase in spending at grocery stores.

Shoppers spent an average of $87 at grocery stores last Memorial Day.

• The biggest spending day of the weekend was Saturday when spending was 21% higher than average.

Not every celebration took place at home or at least not everyone finishes there. Spending at bars, lounges, and nightclubs nearly doubled (83%) the average day in 2018 on Saturday, May 26.

So far we’ve covered the 1^st five months of the year and I’m sure you can see the many opportunities where giving gifts and take advantage of holiday sales can add up significantly. Reflecting on the past year, where and how did you spend your income buying gifts and buying things during the holiday sales? Please enter your answers in the Comment Section below.

Join us next week where we’ll look at what June through November encompasses and see how everyone answered the question above.

Credits

⁶ https://nrf.com/insights/holiday-and-seasonal-trends/super-bowl

⁷ https://nrf.com/insights/holiday-and-seasonal-trends/valentines-day

⁸ https://www.irishcentral.com/news/st-patricks-day-2019-americans-spend-more

⁹ https://www.clothingric.com/blog/easter-spending-statistics.html

¹⁰ https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/holidays/mothers-day/a27343368/how-much-money-mothers-day-gift/

¹¹ https://www.fool.com/investing/2019/05/23/heres-how-much-americans-spend-on-memorial-day.aspx