Take a diet cola break and save for Christmas

With 9% of people saying they'd spend over £500 on Christmas gifts for their immediate family first direct have identified an easy way to save enough in time and have plenty left over for the work Christmas party.

Halloween is just round the corner which means it's only 9 weeks until Christmas and time is running out to save up for the expensive holiday.  Research carried out by first direct bank has found that by cutting out just a few treats every week people could save over £625.

The direct bank discovered that people's penchant for a daily designer latte is likely to set them back around £2.90 a cup.  That translates to a massive coffee spend of £130.50 in the run up to Christmas.  Diet cola is another caffeine fix favourite and with a 500ml bottle costing as much as £1.50 consumers could save £67.50 or the equivalent of a home Espresso machine for Mum and Dad.

first direct has calculated how much consumers could save if they simply cut out a few treats each week...

5x designer coffees £14.50
5x 500ml diet colas £7.50
5x chocolate bars £2.50
1x drinks with friends after work £25.00
5x bought lunches £20.00
A total weekly saving of £69.50
A total Christmas saving of £625.50

If this Christmas is already taken care of it's still possible for the frugal to get geared up for next year's festivities.  For those yet to take advantage of their tax free ISA limit the first direct eISA at 2.70% AER is fixed until the end of January 2013.  Savings of around £69.50 per week could grow to over £3640 in just 12 months.

Bruno Genovese, Head of Savings at first direct commented: "In the run up to Christmas cutting out a few treats really translates to a sizable sum which could be put towards presents and parties.

"For those wanting to get a head start on next year who haven't already used their tax free ISA allowance, the first direct eISA could allow enough to be put by to make next year's gift a skiing trip for the family."