UNDATED—The National Retail Federation predicts cash will be king this holiday shopping season.

The NRF estimates 25% of holiday shoppers will use cash instead of credit to pay for purchases. Experts say the recession and high unemployment is forcing retailers and consumers to change old habits of charging purchases to credit and debit cards.

"What we are hearing from shoppers is that they are trying to use either debit cards or cold hard cash when they are shopping this holiday season so that they can stay within a budget and not get surprised by a credit card bill this January or February," says Ellen Davis, National Retail Federation.

Experts say consumers are expected to spend 3.2% less during this year's holiday shopping season than last year's season.