Half of Americans will start their holiday shopping even before Halloween

Almost half of Americans plan to start their holiday shopping by Halloween this year — and they’re worried about overspending.

According to a new survey from Bankrate, 48% of Americans will begin their winter holiday gift buying in October.

Shoppers are as price-conscious as ever, with just 24% telling Bankrate that they will likely spend more this year than last year. One-third said they plan to actually spend less this year.

When you break the results down by age, more younger shoppers said they plan to spend more this year than last. Two in five Gen Zers expect to spend more, compared to 31% of millennials. Those numbers are much lower than the 19% of Gen Xers and 15% of baby boomers who plan to spend more.

Among those surveyed, 34% said inflation is changing how they shop.

Twelve percent of those surveyed said they started shopping in August, and 13% said they will begin in September. Most shoppers say they aren’t last minute, with only 15% planning to start buying gifts in December.

“While some people scoff that the holiday shopping season seems to start earlier every year, getting off to an early start gives you more time to comparison shop for the best deals and spread out the impact of your purchases,” Bankrate Senior Industry Analyst Ted Rossman said in a statement.

One in four shoppers told Bankrate they are stressed about the cost of holiday shopping, and only 30% say they already have put money aside for gifts.

As far as where shoppers are getting their gifts, 42% said they plan to almost exclusively shop online and just 23% plan to mostly shop in person.

More than a quarter of shoppers expect to take on debt to pay for gifts.