Holiday spending projections for 2018 up from 2017

The official start of the holiday shopping season kicks off next week.

And if you’re planning on spending more this year, you’re not alone.

The recently released survey by the National Retail Federation found that consumers said they will spend an average of $1,007.24 during the holiday season this year.

That’s up 4.1 percent from the $967.13 they said they would spend last year.

While the personal finance website WalletHub found that 6 in 10 people believe they are better off financially than last year (5 in 10 said the same in 2017), 55 million people will have holiday debt into at least February and 42 million people will apply for a new credit card for holiday shopping.

Are you into Black Friday deals?

According to WalletHub, 127 million people think Black Friday sales are nothing special.

Check out what other trends WalletHub researchers found in their annual Holiday Shopping Survey.