By ALAN FRAM and JENNIFER AGIESTA
Associated Press
WASHINGTON – As the holiday shopping frenzy hits a fever pitch this weekend, a new Associated Press-GfK poll finds consumers planning to be more cautious when paying with plastic this year.
Among the one in five Americans who plan to pay for most of their holiday season expenses with credit cards, 84 percent say they plan to pay the bills in full as soon as they arrive, up nine points over last year and 18 points since 2008.
“Unfortunately, you have to be disciplined,” said letter carrier Shelton Rhodes of Aurora, Colo., who plans to keep his holiday spending at last year’s levels. “Otherwise, you get sticker shock when January comes by” and the credit card bills appear.