Concern as 8m face debt from festive spending
ABOUT EIGHT million Britons are likely to be entering January with a spending hangover from Christmas, research suggests.
One in six people say they are likely to fall behind in January as a result of Christmas spending, an increase from 11 per cent last year and equivalent to an estimated 7.97 million people across Britain, according to research from National Debtline, run by charity the Money Advice Trust (MAT).
The survey of more than 2,000 people found more than half of them had not saved for Christmas before December arrived, with only 14 per cent starting to save up for the extra costs of Christmas before last summer.
The free debt advice charity has teamed up with the Association of British Credit Unions (Abcul) to urge households to make a plan for next Christmas, including working out a budget and getting on top of any debts.
Joanna Elson, chief executive of the MAT, said: “After the celebrations of the Christmas period, January is a challenging time for many households with the impact of festive spending taking its toll on household budgets.
“With millions expecting to fall behind with their finances in January, we want people to be financially prepared for the year ahead.”
Nearly a quarter of people say they are likely to start saving for Christmas earlier than they did last year – a figure that National Debtline and credit unions say should be much higher after previously released research found more than a third of people said they were putting Christmas presents on credit.