Easter by the Numbers

Easter Sunday is this coming Sunday, in case you've been too busy with taxes and/or March Madness to notice. Amy and I are in that awkward period where our kids are too grown-up for Easter baskets and egg hunts, but they're too young to give us grandchildren (who would be in to those things). As I pointed out to my disappointed wife, "You can go ahead and hide a bunch of plastic eggs, but no one will go looking for them. Unless, of course, you hide them all next to the refrigerator and the remote for the TV."

Nonetheless, I'm sure that some funds will be used for hollow chocolate bunnies and Peeps.

Speaking of spending some money, the average American will spend $146 on Easter clothing, food, candy, and gifts this year. That's according to WalletHub and their look at the numbers surrounding Easter Sunday.

• $17.32 billion is the total amount of Easter-related spending expected this year.
• $2.44 billion will be spent on candy alone.
• $3.03 billion will be dropped on Easter clothing.
• $5.53 billion will be spent on food.
• 49% of us will spend time decorating Easter eggs.
• 31.4% of us plan an Easter egg hunt for our kids.
• 2.6 billion eggs are purchased in March.
• 670 is the amount of Easter cards offered by Hallmark.
• 44 million Easter cards are exchanged each year, making Easter the 5th largest card-sending holiday.

Take a look at the world's most expensive Easter eggs: