The Holiday Spending Payments Plan

This holiday season, credit isn’t quite king — but it’s getting there.

Which means this year’s holiday spending could add on a little extra holiday weight, financially speaking. Newly released results from The Harris Poll show that a majority of those surveyed expect to make purchases using credit cards.

The poll, which consists of 2,368 general population U.S. adults, showed that a large percentage of consumers anticipated carrying over a balance — with 15 percent saying it could take at least three months to pay off their holiday debt and 8 percent predicting it will take longer than six months.

Of those polled, 33 percent said they will use credit cards exclusively for holiday shopping and spending; 17 percent said they use credit cards more than cash or debit cards for holiday shopping. Thirteen percent said they use both, and 49 percent said they rely on cash or debit.

Breaking that down by generation:

• 54 percent of Matures said they predominately (or exclusively) use credit cards for their holiday season spending, compared to 42 percent of Baby Boomers. Just 27 percent of Gen Xers said they turn to credit cards, and just 18 percent of Millennials plan to.

And how good are those consumers at paying off those credit cards?

• 62 percent said they’ll pay off right away, while 39 percent would within a month.
• 31 percent said they hold onto debt longer, with 15 percent saying they pay it off within three months; 8 percent within six months; 8 percent longer than six months.

By specific generation, here’s how those groups reported if they would pay debt off right away or within a month: Matures (81 percent), Baby Boomers (69 percent), Gen Xers (50 percent), Millennials (52 percent).