A growing number of Aussies will think twice before handing out Christmas presents this year as the cost of living crisis continues to hit.
Many households are wondering how they will afford gifts for their loved ones this year, along with essentials like groceries, gas and bills.
The Christmas season left Australians with $7.7 million in debt by 2023, according to sobering statistics from financial comparison site Finder.
The data showed it would take 15 percent of Aussies up to five months to pay off their Christmas spending, and 11 months for five percent of shoppers.
Three percent of respondents claimed it would take until 2025 for them to be debt-free from their 2023 Christmas spending.
Last year, 6.1 million Aussies expected to receive a gift they would never use – causing an estimated waste of as much as $921 million, the Australian Institute found.
Sydney-based journalist and content creator Laura Koefoed revealed the simple reason why she wouldn’t buy presents this Christmas.
“I just want everyone who knows me to know that I’m not getting a gift for you this year,” Ms. Koreroed said in a TikTok video.
In 2023, the Christmas season left Australians $7.7 million in debt, according to sobering statistics from financial comparison site Finder (pictured, Sydney shoppers)
“I have no money and I just can’t be an adult and buy people gifts anymore.”
Ms Koefoed said if people “drop the culture of gift-giving”, it would be a win-win situation for everyone involved.
“The gift I’m going to give you is that you don’t have to buy me a gift, you can keep that money for yourself,” she said.
Mum-of-two Susan said the costs of the upcoming holidays were too high to meet an already tight budget.
“It is a difficult time for the family now, we are losing savings and we are no longer participating in life as it is,” she said Yahoo Finance.
Another Australian claimed that Christmas gift giving has lost its meaning as children feel entitled when it comes to the number of gifts they receive.
“It gets to the point where it’s not the actual gifts, the kids will throw a tantrum because they don’t have a hundred gifts to open,” they said.
“It’s not about Christmas anymore, it’s about how entitled we can make these kids feel. They ask for things they don’t even want.’
A growing number of Aussies are thinking twice about handing out Christmas presents this year as the cost of living continues to bite (pictured, Sydney shoppers)
It comes after Australians were given a dire inflation warning earlier this month.
The Reserve Bank of Australia kept the cash rate at a 12-year high of 4.35 percent on November 5, but warned inflation would not moderate “sustainably” until late 2026.
That would also happen after inflation soars again next year, following the expiration of the federal government’s temporary $300 electricity rebates.
The RBA has also warned it could still raise rates, despite borrowers in Canada, New Zealand, the European Union, the US and Britain already getting some relief this year.
Overall inflation in Australia fell to a three-and-a-half year low of 2.8 percent in the period to September, putting it within the RBA’s range.