‘Can’t go without’ Brits won’t avoid nightmare at Christmas

Festive spending sprees might be as much a part of Christmas as turkey and mince pies, but research from Alliance & Leicester Savings reveals that 42 per cent of Brits are worried about their spending in the run up to Christmas this year. While rising interest rates and higher living costs mean that British finances are stretched, it seems that the days of scrimping and saving to meet the extra costs of Christmas are long gone, as the convenience factor of shop-bought sandwiches and frothy coffees has become embedded into our culture.

According to the Alliance & Leicester research, six in ten people (60%) now view once-considered luxuries such as takeaway lunches or bottled water, as necessities. And despite collectively spending over £19 billion a year on things such as this, almost a third of people (31%) say they are just not prepared to cut down on any of their regular treats.

Ross Dalzell, Manager for Savings at Alliance & Leicester, says: “Times have changed and while concerns about expenditure are high, attitudes towards what we can or can’t go without in our daily lives are very different to ten years ago. Busy working lives may be responsible for creating a need for convenience, but also for reward, as we feel we deserve the little things that make our lives ‘easier’ and can’t go without them, even if we know we could do with the extra cash sometimes.”

Overall, almost two million Brits (4%) buy takeaway hot drinks such as Pret a Manger latte at least once a day. More than two and a half million (6%) splash out on a taxi at least once a week, when they could have used a cheaper method of transport and six and a half million people (14%) buy lunch from a shop at least ‘several times a week’. Despite this, more than a quarter of Brits (26%) say they could not cut down on their spending at all and a third (32%) say they don’t save regularly because they can’t afford it.

Ironically, of those who said they simply couldn’t afford to put money aside on a regular basis, a third (33%) admitted they would not be prepared to cut down on any treats or luxuries.3

Ross Dalzell continues: “This time of year puts our pockets under the most pressure but it is still possible to save without being a scrooge. No one wants to be a party pooper or miss out on any of the festive fun – so something has to give. Our research has found that although people are worried about their spending around Christmas time and say that they can’t find any way to save, they are overlooking some very simple places to start.

“For example, cutting back on your daily latte to just three times a week alone could save over £200 a year, which should certainly go some of the way towards taking the headache out of a Christmas spending splurge. It’s important that people continue to enjoy themselves, but to avoid a spending nightmare before Christmas they could look at their regular spending more closely and consider whether they could make some minor changes to their lifestyle, as it’s clear from our research that the savings could really add up.”