Record Level Of Americans Planning To Host Thanksgiving Meal

Nearly half of Americans at a record level are planning to host Thanksgiving dinner this year, according to a new survey conducted by LendingTree Inc TREE.

What Happened: In an online survey of 2,045 adults conducted between Oct. 26 and Oct. 29, 47% of respondents said they were expecting guests for Thanksgiving, up from 41% in pandemic-plagued 2020 and 33% in pre-pandemic 2019.

The survey respondents added they were expecting to spend an average of $391.60 to host Thanksgiving, which was down 18% from last year. Millennial hosts expect to pay the most for their holiday meal this year, with an average of $461.20, while baby boomers expect to spend the least with $232.40 on average.

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What Else Is Happening: The eagerness to host a Thanksgiving meal is also wreaking havoc with the finances of many Americans: 44% of respondents planned to take on debt this year in connection with their holiday presentation, compared with 38% in 2020, 27% in 2019 and 28% in 2018.

Nonetheless, hosts admitted they were less likely to stick to a budget this year, possibly due to uncertainties around supply chain shortages, with only 27% admitting to having a "very firm," while 21% don't have a budget at all.

"I do think that a lot of the uncertainty that is out there thanks to inflation, supply chain issues and other factors is likely affecting how people are handling their budgets, and that's a good thing," says LendingTree Chief Credit Analyst Matt Schulz. "Budgets should be living, breathing, malleable documents, and that's especially true in weird economic times like we're in currently."

Photo: Nina Garman / Pixabay.