American families are scaling back their Thanksgiving celebration this year due to the struggling economy, a latest survey reports.
According to the United States First Command Financial Services, 40 percent of families will change their Thanksgiving plans due to economic reasons while there will be a biggest change in the number of people coming to dinner as 20 percent say they will opt for a family-only affair.
“People are looking at areas in their life where they do have some control over the spending and Thanksgiving is one of those areas where people can go overboard,” said Coupons.com household savings expert Jeanette Pavini.
Doubling the average cost in 1987, a family of 10 spent $42.91 for a Thanksgiving dinner last year. But for this year, it may not be the case as many more Americans have changed and moved to the lower end of the expenses. 25 percent of the survey respondents said there is a permanent change in perspective despite of a economic recovery.
“We’ve been seeing a real move towards a more frugal approach to spending, not only in holiday spending, but in general,” noted Mark Leach, a spokesman for First Command.
Lifestyle expert Susie Coelho who specializes in economical entertaining said as people are concerning about homes and jobs, “it’s not cool to overdo things when people are suffering and most people are suffering.”
