For many consumers, the real magic of the holiday season is the sleight of hand it takes to hide overspending from their spouse.
Almost half of Americans say their spouses or significant others do not know how much they spend during the holiday season, according to a new survey of 1,000 U.S. adults from Swagbucks.com.
Another survey, from Quicken, came to a similar — but somewhat more ominous — conclusion.
The software company queried 1,046 married adults, with 7 in 10 couples saying they agree on a holiday spending limit. But of those, 47 percent say they have deceived their spouse about how much they spent on gifts.
Some of the problem could stem from a mismatch in ideas over who’s in charge of the holiday shopping. In the SwagBucks.com survey, 85 percent of women said they do all of the shopping, while 46 percent of men said they do.
The ease of online shopping — which often does not even require taking your credit card out of your wallet these days — also makes it easier to lose track of your own spending, as well as your partner’s, said certified financial planner Lili Vasileff, founder of Divorce and Money Matters in Greenwich, Connecticut.

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