Spending is Up for Mother’s Day 2023! What About Gas Prices?

I often think of the Saturday before Mother’s Day as Commencement Weekend for a significant number of academic institutions across these United States. Earlier today, at my first alma mater, Howard University, President Joe Biden was the invited orator and delivered the commencement address to the Class of 2023. That got me to wondering how many people are traveling this Mother’s Day Weekend 2023 which happens to fall two weeks before Memorial Day Weekend — the unofficial beginning of summer?

A short surfing trip on the internet didn’t produce travel data for Mother’s Day, but I found some consumer spending info from the National Retail Federation (NRF). NRF states that consumers plan to spend a total of $35.7 billion on Mother’s Day 2023, nearly $4 billion more than last year’s record high of $31.7 billion, according to their annual survey released earlier by the NRF and Prosper Insights & Analytics. Also notable is that 84 % percent of U.S. adults are expected to celebrate the holiday. Hands down, moms get respect!

NRF also reports that consumers plan to spend $274.02 per person, the highest in the history of the survey and up from the previous record high of $245.76 in 2022. The top spenders are those ages 35-44, who are expected to spend an average of $382.26 on Mother’s Day. Suffice it to say that Americans believe in honoring mom on her special day! And why shouldn’t day? For the majority of us, at one time or another, your mother is the most important woman in your life.

That said, if you are planning to pay mom a visit this Mother’s Day weekend and you will be traveling by motor vehicle for the entire trip or at some point in your travels, AAA says expect to pay about $3.53 per gallon. That is good news and shows current gas prices to be $0.90 lower than this time last year. Average gas prices have been relatively stable over this past week. This is attributed to the higher demand for gasoline (which typically would drive prices up) being canceled out by the lower price for a barrel of crude oil (West Texas Intermediate or WTI).

Therefore, for Mother’s Day Weekend 2023, a trip to visit your mom this weekend will not only make her day, it will also make your wallet smile.

Happy Mother’s Day to moms and all mother figures! Happy motoring and safe travels for everyone!