More than half of Kiwis are saving and buying Christmas presents throughout the year to ease the pressures coming up to the festive season, a MasterCard survey revealed.
The survey showed 32% of Kiwi shoppers saved throughout the year to buy gifts while another 31% bought gifts during the year to spread the cost.
MasterCard New Zealand country manager Peter Chisnall said it was great that Kiwis took practical steps to ease the pressure at the end of the year.
"The holiday season is a busy time of year where household expenditure tends to rise with Christmas parties, presents and summer holidays, and the more prepared we are financially, the better," he said.
The survey also revealed Kiwis felt less financially stressed with Christmas this year than they had in previous years with only a quarter saying they felt more financially stressed compared to 33% last year.
Mr Chisnall said the festive season should be a time to recharge and celebrate rather than getting caught up with the stress of buying presents.
"The best way to manage additional expenses that come with the festive season is to create a strategy and budget that works for you and stick to it.
"Research results this year are encouraging, as it appears Kiwis are adopting sensible Christmas spending habits as they head into the holiday season."
The survey showed women were the biggest gift-givers and twice as likely as men to purchase gifts for 16 or more people.
Men were "slightly more prepared to spend big on their partners this year with 21% of those surveyed saying they will spend between $251 and $300".
However when it came to siblings, 37% of men wouldn't spend more than $50 on each sibling.
Women were similar with 34% not prepared to spend more than $50 on a sibling.
As a total household, most people said they would spend between $251 and $500 on items such as food, travel, presents and decorations.
By Solbin Kang of NZME News Service
