Some U.S. households expect to reduce essential purchases to pay for holiday gifts, with 65% of Americans reporting that plan in a U.S. News & World Report survey.
The figure describes stated intentions for this holiday season. It does not show whether respondents later followed through on the planned reductions.
The U.S. News finding concerns a trade-off between necessities and gifts. A separate Ipsos poll commissioned by Thrivent asked about reductions within holiday budgets instead.
About two-thirds of Ipsos respondents expected to trim at least one area, including dining out, gifts or travel. Ipsos said that share was unchanged from 2025.
The Ipsos poll surveyed 2,158 U.S. adults from Sept. 29 to Oct. 8, 2026. Its margin of sampling error was plus or minus 2.2 percentage points at a 95% confidence level.
Ipsos identified inflation as the main reported source of pressure on household finances. The two polls describe different planned spending choices and should be read as separate findings.
