Sixty per cent of Canadians say economy has not impacted their holiday spending

TORONTO, Dec. 20, 2011 /CNW/ - With five shopping days left, a Scotiabank holiday spending poll by Harris/Decima shows Canadians plan on spending more this holiday season than last year. On average, Canadians plan to spend approximately $53 more on overall purchases cashing in at just over $1000, up from $968 in 2010. On gifts alone, Canadians plan on spending approximately $685 in total, forty-two dollars more than they did in 2010. But, when it comes to planning for holiday expenses, there's more work to be done for the majority of Canadians.

Only 42 per cent of Canadians report doing a little planning for their holiday spending with 45 per cent of Canadians in the enviable position of having saved enough to cover the cost all of their gifts. Quebecers are more likely than the rest of Canadians to have saved enough to cover the cost of all of their gifts (52 per cent) and other holiday expenses (50 per cent).

"While it's encouraging that some Canadians are planning for their holiday expenses, for the majority who didn't, we can help with advice on creating personalized plans so people have a proper plan for the whole year, not just the holidays," said Mike Henry, Senior Vice President of Retail Payments, Deposits and Lending, Scotiabank. "Without a plan, it's easy to get caught up in the magic of the season and over spend. Going into the mall with a budget makes all the difference. As a New Year's resolution, we encourage Canadians to build on the idea of having a plan, by coming in to speak to us about creating a five-year plan to help them get ahead financially.

While over half of Canadians plan on using money they already have, debit and cash (51 per cent), forty-six per cent indicate they plan on using their credit card for holiday purchases. For those using credit cards, it's important to explore value-adds such as cash back rewards for purchases.

Scotiabank offers Canadians the chance to earn as they use their plastic with the Scotia Moneyback Account, a chequing account where they can earn one per cent cash back rewards on all point of sale debit purchases, and the Momentum suite of credit cards, which offer up to 4 per cent cash back rewards on everyday credit purchases, such as groceries and gas.

Other holiday poll highlights:

• Early shoppers: Only 42 per cent of Canadians planned on doing their shopping a month or two before December.
• Spending wars: Overall, men are preparing to spend significantly more this year on holiday spending ($1122) than women, who say they plan on spending $928 on the holidays.
• Piggy bank approved: Men are more likely than women to say they have saved enough to cover the cost of all of their gifts (49 per cent vs. 41 per cent of women) and all of their other holiday expenses (47 per cent vs. 40 per cent of women).
• The big three: The three top gifts Canadians are hoping to receive this year are gift cards or certificates, money and electronics.

About the study

The Scotiabank Holiday savings poll was conducted using Harris/Decima's online omnibus.  A total of 1,008 completed surveys were collected from a random sample of panel members across Canada from October 17^th to October 25^th, 2011.

This was a standard panel survey among a random sample of Harris/Decima's Canadian panel members. In a fashion similar to a telephone study, email addresses from their panel were pulled at random, according to population and gender specifications, in order to make the study representative of the Canadian population by region and gender. When contacted to solicit participation, participants had no prior knowledge of the subject matter of the study. Harris/Decima controls access to the study through passwords to ensure that respondents can participate only once. Subsequent to completion of the study, the data was weighted by region, age, and gender.

About Scotiabank

Scotiabank is one of North America's premier financial institutions and Canada's most international bank. With more than 75,000 employees, Scotiabank Group and its affiliates serve some 19 million customers in more than 55 countries around the world. Scotiabank offers a broad range of products and services including personal, commercial, corporate and investment banking. With assets above $575 billion (as at October 31, 2011), Scotiabank trades on the Toronto (BNS) and New York Exchanges (BNS). For more information please visit www.scotiabank.com.