Christmas 'will send one quarter of us into debt'

By Lucy Bower

A recent survey by uSwitch.com asked consumers whether they thought they'd end up in debt because of Christmas. Just over one quarter (27%) said they would. With so much pressure to spend at this time of year, it's possible that people feel pressure to borrow money for the 'perfect day'.

The majority of people (62%) said they would struggle to pay for this Christmas and 12% said they would really struggle. No one wants to cancel Christmas, despite the doom and gloom in the economy, but the research shows it could take some borrowers until next Christmas to pay their debts off.

On average, it will take people around six months to repay their Christmas debts - and almost one in ten (8%) will still be paying for this Christmas by Christmas 2012.

Of the people who will get into debt because of seasonal spending, the average debt is £274, although just over a quarter of borrowers could go into the red by more than £300.

Nearly half of the people surveyed (48%) said they have less money than this time last year. Around half (52%) have savings to fall back on for festive spending, but more than four in ten are reliant on their credit cards.

Image © iStockPhotos.

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Tags: uSwitch, debt, Christmas, economy, credit cards, savings

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