Will You Be Holiday Shopping with Cash or Credit?

The holiday shopping season is just around corner and if you’re like me you haven’t given much thought to gift buying (procrastinators unite) just yet. But many of you have started shopping and are well ahead of the rest of us. Then there are those of you that kick off your buying frenzy on Black Friday or Cyber Monday.

Either way, how will you be paying for your purchases? 

“According to Forbes, scientific studies have found that people are more likely to buy something when using a credit card instead of cash. The reason for this is because cash seems more scarce to the general consumer, so it’s a resource people try to conserve, whereas credit does not come with the same psychological barrier,” writes blogger Katherine Muniz for My Bank Tracker. 

But the benefits of using cash may outweigh purchases made with plastic.

“Using cash can be a logical method of cutting back on debt and gaining control of one’s finances again,” writes Muniz. “If you as a consumer want to play it safe, you may want to consider using cash to pay for your purchases, which will indefinitely put a stop to spending money you simply don’t have.”

Whichever method you use, holiday sales are expected to marginally increase 3.9 percent to $602.1 billion in the months of November and December, according to the National Retail Federation.

“Overall, retailers are optimistic for the 2013 holiday season, hoping political debates over government spending and the debt ceiling do not erase any economic progress we’ve already made,” said NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay. 

When the time comes for you to make those holiday purchases, will you be using cash or credit?