This holiday season, Vincent Cassanetti, 60, a wealthy retired business owner, is helping to keep luxury sales booming.

The Palm Beach, Fla., resident has spent $50,000 on gifts for his wife and children, including $600 shoes from Jimmy Choo and Chanel, as well as designer handbags, jewelry and clothing. That's up from about $35,000 a year ago.

"This is a really good Christmas," he said.

While today's average pump prices of $1.84 is down nearly 20 cents a gallon from October, gasoline still costs 26 percent more now than it did a year ago. And the cost to heat homes this year could end up being 15 percent to 35 percent higher than last winter, depending on the weather and the type of fuel used, according to the Energy Department. Plus many shoppers are also faced with escalating health care costs and worries about jobs.

[Jack Yeaton] wants the authentic big-ticket status items, even though he knows he can't afford them.

This holiday season, he has charged at least $2,000 on his credit card on gifts like a $850 Prada bag for his mother and $675 Fendi bag for his sister. He expects to pay off his holiday debt by the summer. Last year, he spent about $100 on each family member.

For himself, Yeaton splurged on a Prada sport jacket for $800, marked down from $1,050, and Prada loafers, reduced to $340 from $500. Those charges are on a separate credit card.

"I can't help but walk down the street and wish I was trotting around in Prada shoes and a Gucci suit," he said.