Holiday spending in 2026: how much Americans really spend on Christmas (and how to set your own number)

The short answer: in 2026, the average holiday spender plans to spend about $2,525 on the whole season, including $879 on gifts (NerdWallet). The NRF's 2025 per-person number is $890.49, since it leaves out travel.

• Parents with kids under 18: $3,417 on average
• Gift budgets are down 21% from $1,107 in 2025
• Record NRF spending: $901.99 per person in 2024
• Set your own number in 5 steps below
• Next step: Plan it with the Christmas Budget & Gift Planner ($4.99).

How much do Americans spend on Christmas? In 2026, the average holiday spender plans to spend about $2,525 on the whole season, including $879 on gifts, according to NerdWallet's 2026 Holiday Spending Report. The National Retail Federation's latest per-person number, from 2025, is lower at $890.49, because it counts gifts, food, decorations and cards but not travel. And across the whole country, the NRF expects November and December retail sales to reach $1.013 trillion.

Those numbers are useful, but they aren't your budget. Below you'll find every major 2026 holiday spending figure in one place, what each one actually measures, where the money goes, and a simple way to turn an average into a number that fits your own paycheck. I grew up as the oldest of three, the one my family leaned on to keep everything coordinated, and I've learned that a clear number on paper beats a vague feeling every December.

Holiday spending at a glance: the 2026 numbers

Here are the headline figures, with the source and what each one includes.

If you only remember one thing from this table, make it this: the average depends on what's being counted. A survey that includes plane tickets will always look much bigger than one that only counts gifts and wrapping paper.

How much do Americans spend on Christmas gifts?

Gifts are still the center of holiday spending. In NerdWallet's 2026 survey, 82% of Americans plan to buy gifts, and those gift buyers expect to spend $879 on average. That's a real drop from $1,107 the year before.

The average hides a split. Nearly half of gift buyers (46%) expect to spend less than $500, while 31% expect to spend $1,000 or more. So the "average" person is not really typical. A smaller group of big spenders pulls the number up.

The NRF's 2025 survey tells a similar story with different numbers. Of the $890.49 per-person average, $627.93 went to gifts for family and friends, about 70% of the total. The rest, $262.56, went to seasonal extras like food or candy, decorations and greeting cards.

What this means for your budget: if gifts are about 70% of a typical non-travel holiday budget, the other 30% (food, decorating, cards, wrapping, shipping) deserves its own line. Those are the costs that quietly push people over. Our list of hidden holiday expenses covers the ones most people forget.

How much does the average family spend on Christmas?

Families with children spend noticeably more. NerdWallet found that holiday spenders who are parents of children under 18 expect to spend $3,417, about $1,400 more than holiday spenders without kids under 18 ($2,032).

The NRF's 2025 survey noted the same pattern: families with children were expected to raise their gift budgets by more than $30 on average.

If you're trying to land on a per-child amount, our guide to how much to spend on Christmas per child walks through simple ways to choose one and keep it fair between kids of different ages.

Why the holiday spending numbers don't match

You'll see very different "average Christmas spending" numbers online, and it's not because anyone is wrong. The surveys ask different questions.

There's one more wrinkle for 2026. The NRF did not publish a new per-person dollar figure this year. Its Winter Holiday FAQs explain that the 2026 survey focuses on shopping behaviors and trends, to keep its consumer survey separate from its sales forecast. That's why many 2026 articles still quote the 2025 figure.

And the big trillion-dollar number is a different thing again. The NRF's 2026 holiday forecast measures all retail sales from Nov. 1 through Dec. 31, including everyday purchases, and leaves out restaurants, gas stations and car dealers. It tells you how busy stores will be. It doesn't tell you what a household "should" spend.

Where holiday money goes

Here's a simple way to picture a typical non-travel holiday budget, using the NRF's 2025 split as a guide. The dollar amounts below are an example built on the $890.49 average, not a recommendation.

If you travel, add a separate travel line. For the 42% of Americans planning to pay for flights and hotels this year, NerdWallet found an average travel budget of $2,439, which can be bigger than the gift budget. Our holiday travel budget for families breaks that line into flights, lodging, food and the small stuff.

Holiday spending trends for 2026

A few patterns stand out in this year's data:

• Total sales up, gift budgets down. The NRF expects retail sales to grow 4.2%, while NerdWallet's average planned gift budget fell 21%. People are still celebrating, just more carefully.
• The economy is on people's minds. The NRF found 56% of holiday shoppers say the state of the economy will affect their holiday spending plans, and 84% expect higher prices because of tariffs.
• Early shopping continues. About 43% of holiday shoppers planned to start before November. In 2025, the top reasons for shopping early were to spread out the budget (54%) and to avoid last-minute stress (41%).
• More people are staying close to home. In NerdWallet's survey, 31% said they won't spend on flights and hotels this year, up from 22% in 2025.
• Gift cards top wish lists. In the NRF's 2026 data, 47% of shoppers want gift cards, followed by clothing (44%), books and other media (25%) and personal care or beauty items (24%).
• Saving strategies are nearly universal. NerdWallet found 86% of holiday spenders plan to use at least one money-saving strategy, led by coupons (42%), shopping sales like Black Friday (41%) and setting a budget (37%).

That last point is encouraging. Only 37% plan to set a budget, which means a written plan alone puts you ahead of most shoppers.

Credit cards, BNPL and the January bill

How people pay matters as much as how much they spend. NerdWallet found 74% of holiday spenders plan to use a credit card and 38% plan to use buy now, pay later. Among BNPL users, 38% expect they won't make every payment in full and on time, compared with 25% of credit card users.

That's the gap between holiday spending and holiday debt. A $900 season paid in cash is a fond memory. The same $900 on a card at a typical double-digit interest rate can follow you into spring. If you're thinking about splitting purchases into installments, read our guide to buy now, pay later for Christmas first. And if last year's balance is still hanging around, how to pay off holiday debt has a step-by-step plan.

Why people overspend at Christmas

NerdWallet asked holiday spenders what's most likely to make them overspend. The top answers:

Almost every fix on that list comes down to the same thing: decide before you shop. If you want help with the deal-chasing part, our Black Friday budget guide shows how to set a sale-day limit that fits the rest of your season.

How to set your own holiday spending number in 5 steps

Averages give you context. Your number has to come from your own money. Here's a short way to get there.

1. Add up your November and December take-home pay. Use what actually lands in your account, after taxes and deductions.
2. Subtract everything that has to be paid anyway. Rent or mortgage, utilities, groceries, insurance, minimum debt payments and any savings you've already committed to.
3. Choose a slice of what's left. Leave a cushion for January. Many families pick a holiday total they could cover in cash without dipping into emergency savings.
4. Split the total into lines. Gifts, food and hosting, decorations, cards and postage, travel (if any) and a small buffer. Use the 70/30 gift-to-extras split above as a starting point if you don't travel.
5. Give every person on your list a dollar amount. Then track each purchase against it.

If you'd like the math done for you, the free holiday budget calculator turns your income and bills into a spending limit, and our Christmas budget by income guide explains three ways to set the limit in detail.

Starter version: a one-page holiday spending plan

Copy this onto any sheet of paper or into your notes app. Fill in the blanks and you have a working holiday budget in about 15 minutes.

Under the table, list every person you're buying for with a dollar amount next to each name. When the gift line is spent, the shopping is done.

Want more room to plan? The Christmas Budget & Gift Planner ($4.99) is a printable that lets you set a budget for every person, log each purchase and watch what's left, with gift, card, menu and to-do pages, so you can see the whole season on paper before the sales start. If you also host or want to save for next year, the Holiday Season Bundle ($15.99, regularly $25.94 when the six items are bought separately) adds the Sinking Funds Tracker, the Meal Planner & Grocery List, the 100 Envelope Savings Challenge, the Bill Tracker Printable and the Cleaning Schedule. You can see everything for the season on the Holidays page.

If you'd rather start free, the Free Holiday Budget Starter Kit is 3 US Letter pages, emailed to you after you join the list.

Save ahead so next year's number is easier

The most painless way to handle holiday spending is to spread it over the year. Divide your holiday total by 12 for a monthly amount, or by 52 for a weekly one.

Starting in January means December is already paid for. The Sinking Funds Tracker ($4.99) spreadsheet keeps a Christmas fund next to your other savings goals and shows how much to set aside each month. If you'd like the whole system explained, our guide to sinking funds is a good place to start.

Your next step

Pick your number before the first big sale of the season. Write your total at the top of a page, list every name with a dollar amount, and keep that page wherever you shop. The averages are interesting, but the only holiday spending number that matters is the one you can pay off by January and still feel good about. Slow progress is still progress, and a single page is a fine place to start.