Scottish parents prepared to miss meals to afford presents for their children

Parents can take drastic action to ensure they can afford presents for their children, writes Diane King

Parents in Scotland are prepared to skip meals in order to pay for Christmas presents for their children, a survey of festive spending habits has revealed.

A quarter said they overspend so much they are forced into extreme measures such as skipping meals, saying no to school trips or cancelling holidays, research by banking giant Barclays found.

Parents are expected to fork out an average of £128.80 per child on presents during the festive season according to Barclays – raising the total amount Scottish parents will spend on Christmas presents this year to a projected £118 million across the nation.

Nearly one in three Scots (30 per cent) admit to dipping into their savings and overdrafts in order to finance presents, with just under one fifth (19 per cent) admitting it is a big financial burden and a third of Scottish respondents admitted they’d be happy to spend as much as 20 per cent more on reseller sites for sold-out gifts their children wanted.

Clare Francis, savings and investments director at Barclays, said: “Christmas is a magical time of the year for children and parents understandably want to make it as memorable as possible.

“However, spending more than you can afford can lead to serious problems down the line, and it’s something we – as a nation – need to get out of the habit of.

“Too many of us are being moved into action by social pressures to spend huge sums of money on Christmas presents.

“If that sounds like you, decide to do it differently next year. Set a budget in January using something like Barclays Finance Manager to set up savings goals which can help you start contributing monthly instalments to a set pot of money and stick to your limit.”

The cost of Christmas dinner has also risen, Good Housekeeping magazine’s annual festive food survey found, having looked at Britain’s 10 biggest stores.

A meal for eight people – containing 11 separate components, bought at the lowest price available – has risen from £19.82 last year to £23.53 this year.

Around the table, this equates to £2.94 per head compared with £2.48 last year.

0 Christmas can be costly