83% of Brits are Cutting Back on Spending this Christmas and Worrying About Their Finances

    SURREY, ENGLAND, December 02, 2010 /24-7PressRelease/ -- A new survey from DiscountVouchers.co.uk, the money-saving website, has found that people in the UK are struggling to afford Christmas and are in debt due to it, and they are cutting back with only one month to go.

- 84% want to spend less money on Christmas
- 83% are worried about the costs of Christmas
- 42% have debt resulting from Christmas presents
- 1 in 4 will buy second hand gifts from eBay or charity shops
- 15% are selling gold or jewellery to pay for Christmas

Christmas is looking like a dull and worrying one this year, as a survey found that 26% are thinking about not celebrating it at all; 84% are going to spend less; and 83% are worried about the cost of the festivities.

DiscountVouchers.co.uk produced the survey, and the money-saving website found that out of 1,000 people in the UK, one in four will spend 50% less and a third will spend 25% less this year on gifts and parties.

54% are going to reduce the amount of food bought; 57% are buying less gifts for their partners; 49% are reducing their children's presents; 30% of people aren't going to as many parties; 545 will wear old party clothing and not new ones; and those who aren't buying a Christmas tree amount to 12%.

DiscountVouchers.co.uk media contact, Mr Simon Terry, said: "With job security, rising costs and Christmas being an expensive time, as well as the January VAT increase, people in the UK are finding it hard to come up with the funds for the festive season."

Out of the 1,000 people surveyed, 42% said they had concerns about being able to afford it. With Christmas bonuses only amounting to 8.5% of people, the cost of Christmas is very scary for many of the UK.

To pay for Christmas people are using short-term loans (3%) or 33% are using credit cards and 35% of which are worried about the cost of the interest on these forms. 15% of people will be selling items they own to make some money such as jewellery or gold. Christmas presents which are second hand from either eBay or charity shops for one in four people.

"People in the UK are looking at new ways to make their money last longer and are looking to save money on most brands with money off vouchers. When people see the RRP, they should try and haggle and negotiate a better price too," added Simon.

The amount of money spent on Christmas is: GBP500-GBP1,000 (39% of people); GBP1,000-GBP2,500 (16%); GBP250-GBP500 (32%); and over GBP2,500 (2%).

3% of people spend more than GBP1,000 per child for Christmas; 43% spend GBP50-GBP150; 10% spend GBP300-GBP500; 22% spend GBP150-GBP300 on children's Christmas presents.

Offering hundreds of deals and exclusive money saving vouchers, DiscountVouchers.co.uk is one of the UK's leading money saving websites and has offers from Sainsbury's, First Choice, Boden, Lastminute.com, Tesco, Marks & Spencer and Travelodge.

Get more information about the latest money saving deals at Discountvouchers.co.uk.

About DiscountVouchers.co.uk
DiscountVouchers.co.uk features the latest money saving offers from a growing range of retailers, all updated in real time. Designed to help consumers save money with both leading high street brands and specialist retailers, DiscountVouchers.co.uk offers one of the widest choices of discounts available.

Part of ASAP Ventures Ltd, the company behind the award winning Carrentals.co.uk price comparison site, DiscountVouchers.co.uk is committed to offering a growing range of the best savings available online.

For more information visit Discountvouchers.co.uk.

Media contact -
Rachel Builder & Jenny White
Context
[email protected]
T: 01625 511966

# # #