LANSING, Mich. (Michigan News Source) – As Michiganders cross off the names of friends and family from their Christmas lists and decide what to buy for their holiday feasts, they are stressing out over the lack of money in their bank accounts. The lure of packed retail stores, holiday cheer, Christmas lights and discounts are bringing them into the stores and online to buy things that are better off left on the shelves and in Amazon warehouses.

As time goes by, Americans are finding it harder and harder to stretch their dollars so they can pay their bills. With the holidays coming, the pressure is on not to overspend while trying to create the “perfect” holiday for their families. The stress of it all can be seen on faces all across the state.

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Michiganders are not alone though. The entire country is feeling the pinch and are stressing out over inflation. The U.S. Money Reserve just released a new study last week that looks at Americans’ stress levels concerning inflation and it’s not jolly.

The latest data shows nearly half of Americans (47.9%) are very stressed about price increases right now. Another 47.1% report being moderately or a little stressed.

In Michigan specifically, 46.1% of adults reported feeling very stressed about recent price increases, 55.8% concerned about future price increases, 16.9% of adults are finding it difficult to cover their usual expenses and 29.4% of adults in Michigan have used savings to meet their spending needs.

In their study, the U.S. Money Reserve reports that today’s $1 bill only has the same purchasing power as just $0.85 in January of 2021. Additionally, in 2022, 35% of U.S. adults reported that they were doing worse off financially than 12 months prior. That figure was up from 20% in 2021 and 14% in 2019, the last year before the COVID-19 pandemic.

And yet, neither the reality nor perception of a bad economy seems to be slowing down Americans from spending over the holiday season – with cookies, decorations, gifts and other holiday pleasures filling shopping carts at a rapid pace. The National Retail Federation (NRF) reported at the beginning of November that they expect to see $960 billion in holiday spending by the end of the year – a record-breaking amount, up 3 to 4% from last year. An increase of 7 to 9% in online shopping is part of that total.

Although NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay says the holiday sales growth, which is returning to pre-pandemic levels, is a result of overall household finances remaining in “good shape”, it’s more likely that consumers are spending because they still have money available on their credit cards even though the credit card balances of Americans keep going up and up and up.

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U.S. News & World Report wonders how much longer consumers will be propping up the U.S. economy with them “spending like there’s no tomorrow.” Credit card balances grew again in the third quarter – this time by 4.7% up to $1.08 trillion. Delinquencies on credit cards also rose, particularly among adults aged 30 to 39. Credit reporting company, TransUnion, says that bank card balances rose 15% from a year ago with the average balance per customer up 11% to $6,088.

NRF Chief Economist Jack Kleinhenz does admit that consumers are resilient “despite headwinds of inflation, higher gas prices, stringent credit conditions and elevated interest rates.”

However, that resiliency seems to have manifested itself in the form of Mastercard, Visa, Discover and American Express.