In the United States, the average holiday shopper is projected to spend an all-time high of $936, the National Retail Federation estimated. This figure stood over $100 more than the amount consumers were projected to pay in 2015.

Many shoppers battle debt in the aftermath of holiday shopping. According to a 2014 post-Christmas survey by Magnify Money, 28 percent of Americans said their debt would require more than five months to pay off. Another 27 percent of Americans stated they could only afford minimum payments on their holiday debt, and that it would require up to 10 years to pay off.

Last year, the credit reporting agency Experian Consumer Services found that 41 percent of consumers “felt obligated to spend more than they could afford” during the holiday season.

“Our parents viewed debt as a shame and accumulating a nest egg as the right thing to do,” Robert Manning, a senior research fellow at the University of Houston, stated. “The young see that as ‘old school’ and have been convinced that going into debt is fine.”

The consequence, Mr. Manning stated, “will hurt, in mounting debt and higher interest rates and higher fees.”