Credit, Collections & Insolvency News
With the average cost of Christmas topping £700 for UK households, 40% of people have been forced to make sacrifices to pay for this year’s festivities, including cutting back on heating, clothes and food shopping, taking on an extra job and even selling belongings, according to new research out today.*
The run-up to Christmas can be the most expensive time of year for consumers with festive gifts, family gatherings and food and drink bills. The research reveals that only 36% of households have no financial worries about this Christmas, with over a fifth (21%) saying they will be celebrating on a smaller scale than they’d like. One in ten surveyed said they really can’t afford Christmas this year.
The survey, commissioned by GoCompare Money, revealed that UK households anticipate they will spend an average of £726 on Christmas celebrations. But for many households, the only way Christmas will happen this year, is with a lot of sacrifices.
Steps taken to afford Christmas 2017:
The cost of presents for loved-ones represent just over half of households’ expected Christmas spending and, for some is an area of concern. A small number (5%) of those surveyed said they feel under pressure to buy expensive gifts for family and friends, 12% admitted they can’t afford to buy the presents they’d really like to and, to save money, one in ten have agreed not to exchange gifts with their partner this year.
The survey also looked at the measures savvy seasonal shoppers will take to make their money go further this Christmas. The top ‘pays’ of Christmas include saving money through cashing-in loyalty card points, using money off vouchers, codes and apps and, buying presents in the sales.
| The 12 ‘pays’ of Christmas | ||
| 1 | Cash-in loyalty card points to pay for Christmas shopping | 60% |
| 2 | Use vouchers and discount codes | 58% |
| 3 | Set and keep to a budget for presents | 37% |
| 4 | Buy presents in the sales | 27% |
| 5 | Use money-off apps | 25% |
| 6 | Reduce the number of people you buy presents for | 21% |
| 7 | Agree a price limit on gifts for family and friends | 20% |
| 8 | Downshift food shopping to a cheaper supermarket | 18% |
| 9 | Club together to buy joint presents | 7% |
| 10 | Make gifts and/or cards rather than buying them | 7% |
| 11 | Use a 0% credit card to spread the cost of Christmas | 6% |
| 12 | Arrange a family Secret Santa | 4% |
Commenting on the research, Georgie Frost, Consumer Advocate for GoCompare, said “From nagging kids, to soppy festive TV ads, shops decked out and our social media timelines full of ‘perfect Christmas’ posts, we are under so much pressure to part with our hard-earned cash at this time of year. Inevitably, this can lead to us blowing our budgets and spending money we don’t have, with many of us having to make some significant financial sacrifices at Christmas.”
According to GoCompare’s survey, a worrying 14% of those using a credit card to pay for Christmas, expect to still be paying the debt off beyond June next year.
