Spending Habits
Don’t let loan sharks ruin your Christmas
Predictions that 80,000 people will become fresh victims of illegal lenders this Christmas has led the Office of Fair Trading to issue a warning to consumers.
Brits fall into debt to pay for Christmas
This Christmas almost 5.5 million adults (11%) will fall into debt to pay for their festive fun, according to a report from the protection specialist Bright Grey.
Bedtime buying on the rise
With less than a week to go until Christmas, the latest insight from Orange customers reveals a new breed of shoppers avoiding the festive rush by shopping from their mobile phones, at night.
Last-minute Christmas spending approaches £6.7 billion
With only a week to go until Christmas Day, new research from Sainsbury's Credit Cards indicates that the nation intends to spend some £6.7 billion during the last week before Christmas.
Consumers show lack of festive cheer in November
Consumer confidence fell for the third consecutive month in November, dropping by seven points to 45.
Resist the urge to overspend and stay debt-free this Christmas
As we head into Christmas week and one of the busiest sales periods in the High Street, Payplan warns consumers to keep tight control on their spending.
Brits face frugal Christmas as money worries limit spending
Over three quarters of Britons (78%) aren't happy about the state of their finances, implying that for some Christmas may pull on the purse strings even more than usual this year, according to research by Skipton Building Society.
All I want for Christmas is an IOU
Up to a third of Brits (32%) may actually wake up to nothing under the Christmas tree but an IOU this year, according to research from uSwitch.com. Partners are the most likely to be given an IOU, with one in five (20%) being surprised on Christmas day by their empty-handed loved ones.
Savvy shoppers plan to save money by avoiding VAT increase
We are a nation of savvy shoppers as around one in four (15.5 million people) of us have planned to make big ticket purchases in the last three months of the year to avoid the impending VAT increase, according to research by Sainsbury's Loans.
Borrowers using wrong credit card to fund Christmas
Almost seven million consumers will be funding Christmas on a credit card this year, and of those over five million will be using expensive standard rate cards rather than ones that offer interest free periods on purchases.
Forget the budget, it’s Christmas time
Despite uncertainty surrounding the current economic climate, one in four Brits get caught up in the festivities of the holiday season and spend more than they budgeted during Christmas, according to research carried out by accounting software firm Accountz.
Brits set to spend record £50 billion this Christmas
The UK is set for a bumper Christmas spend this year, despite many high streets being impacted by heavy snow falls at the beginning of the month. Figures from Barclays predict that a record £48.9 billion spend will be spent over the festive period, an 8 per cent increase from Christmas 2009.
Grandparents spend over £6000 on each grandchild
As parents begin to feel the pinch of Government cuts, new research from M&S Money reveals that grandparents in the UK are providing more than £6000 of support to grandchildren.
12 days to Christmas - parents to spend over £2 billion
On Monday 13 December Christmas will be just twelve days away, and children across the country will increasingly be looking forward to a visit from Santa. But the 12 days to Christmas can be a stressful time for parents, as the ‘Cost of a Child’ study from insurance, investment and retirement group LV=, reveals parents will spend a bumper £2.2 billion on festive presents for their children this year.
Majority of households rein in Xmas spending
The majority of UK households are limiting the amount they will spend on Christmas with eight in 10 saying they expect total spending (includes all Christmas expenditure) to be no more than last year, and almost a third (30 per cent) planning to spend less than in 2009, according to the MoneyMood Survey from Legal & General.