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Millennial women were the most to overspend in Canada during the holidays: poll

Survey says only 58 per cent of people in B.C. vowed to spend less in 2017
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Millennial women are likely tightening their purse strings after a lavish holiday season, a new RBC poll released Tuesday suggests.

About half of shoppers across Canada spent too much money while shopping for gifts in December, the survey says. That’s up 10 percentage points, from 41 per cent last year.

Women between the ages of 18 and 34 years old overspent the most, while men over 55 spent the least.

Slight more than half of B.C. residents used cash or debit for their holiday shopping, while 39 per cent financed it via credit. They spent the most of their bundles on electronics, followed by toys, home decor and then music, books and movies.

In the same breath, just under half of those responding to the survey in B.C. said they plan to cut back on entertainment, while 38 per cent wanted to cut down on lunch and coffee and another third want to spend less on day-to-day expenses.

What about the savvier shoppers who aren’t feeling the pinch this month? Just under half of them didn’t want the debt, while one-quarter budgeted and tracked their spending.

Not everyone has learned their lesson however – 42 per cent of B.C. shoppers won’t do anything differently in 2017.