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Eighty-three percent (83%) of adults say credit cards tempt people to buy things they cannot afford, according to a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey

Of those 65-plus, nearly half (45 percent) say they’ll spend less than $300

“We shop every week and buy gifts all year long,” says Fowler, who retired from IBM in 1990. “We don’t wait till the season. It’s easier, and we get as good a deal as ever because we shop while the stores have sales.

Most people seem to want to avoid racking up debt this holiday season. More than three-quarters (78 percent) say they plan to buy their gifts with cash, check or a debit card.

Until those households get access to credit again, our consumer-driven economy will continue to slog along in low gear

It's worth noting that Americans who plan to spend less don't always do so. The survey found that of those who made a budget for last year's holiday gift buying, 44% spent more than they had intended

The poll also found that 6% of adults still carry holiday debt from last year, unchanged from last year.

Take the United States: Richard A. Easterlin, an economics professor at the University of Southern California and a former Guggenheim Fellow, has done extensive research that "found no significant relationship between happiness and time over a period in which GDP (gross domestic product) per capita grew by one-third, from 1972 to 1991."

Similarly, Eric Weiner notes in "The Geography of Bliss" that America -- "the wealthiest nation in the world" -- is "three times richer than we were in 1950, yet no happier."

Too many Americans are what Stanley calls "aspirational spenders" -- people who spend money to make themselves look richer or more successful than they are.But their "hyperconsumption" effectively torpedoes any chances they would have at accumulating real wealth, which typically requires spending significantly less than you earn and investing the difference

The "keeping up with the Joneses" mentality means the fancier the neighborhood, the less wealth we may accumulate, Stanley said. The opposite is also true: When our surroundings are more modest, we tend to spend less, regardless of our incomes

Yes, people have cut back their spending because of job losses, less access to credit and the desire to build up savings, Stanley said. But that cutback is likely to be reversed as the economy improves, he said