{"id":1844,"date":"2024-11-25T16:38:11","date_gmt":"2024-11-25T16:38:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.redstareducation.co.uk\/blog\/?p=1844"},"modified":"2024-11-25T16:38:11","modified_gmt":"2024-11-25T16:38:11","slug":"christmas-spending","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.redstareducation.co.uk\/blog\/christmas-spending\/","title":{"rendered":"Christmas Spending"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Though many of us love Christmas-time, it can also pressure us to spend beyond our means and lead to financial hardship. Let\u2019s try our best to avoid that this year\u2026 the question is just how?<\/p>\n<h2 style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Recent Statistics<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\">55% of UK adults expect to spend most of their 2024 Christmas budget on gifts for others <em>(The <a href=\"https:\/\/ipa.co.uk\/knowledge\/publications-reports\/the-2024-christmas-consumer\">Institute of Practitioners in Advertising<\/a> (IPA))<\/em><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The IPA found that 56% of 18-24 year olds and 25-34 year olds hope to receive gifts that are practical or essential rather than luxury items this year (<em>IPA<\/em>)<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\">VoucherCodes\u2019 Shopping for Christmas Report predicts a 4% rise in Christmas spending this year, with consumers expected to spend an extra \u00a33.39 billion compared to last year, and \u00a314.03 billion more than they would ten years ago<em> (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.vouchercodes.co.uk\/savings-guides\/guides-reports\/shopping-for-christmas-2024-the-christmas-period#funding-christmas)\">VoucherCodes<\/a>)<\/em><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\">They also predict a 1.4% rise in sales volume this Christmas period compared to last, showing it isn\u2019t just inflation that\u2019s resulting in our increased spending, it\u2019s also that we are buying more items <em>(Voucher Codes)<\/em><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\">UK individuals are forecast to spend \u00a31,328.88 over the six-week Christmas period in addition to their usual purchases (an extra \u00a350.19 than last year) <em>(Voucher Codes)<\/em><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\">43% of consumers are planning to buy fewer gifts this Christmas compare to last, and 42% plan to buyer cheaper gifts\u00a0<em>(Voucher Codes)<\/em><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\">More people are expected to fund this year\u2019s Christmas out of their salary with less reliance on Buy Now Pay Later financing than last year, but more are using things like credit cards and payday loans, which can be seen from the table below: <em>(VoucherCodes)<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter  wp-image-1846\" src=\"https:\/\/www.redstareducation.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Screenshot-2024-11-25-at-16.26.18-800x962.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"452\" height=\"544\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.redstareducation.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Screenshot-2024-11-25-at-16.26.18-800x962.png 800w, https:\/\/www.redstareducation.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Screenshot-2024-11-25-at-16.26.18-600x722.png 600w, https:\/\/www.redstareducation.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Screenshot-2024-11-25-at-16.26.18-768x924.png 768w, https:\/\/www.redstareducation.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Screenshot-2024-11-25-at-16.26.18.png 1046w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 452px) 100vw, 452px\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As is clear from these statistics then, Christmas continues to be a time of year when we spend a lot of money. Spending more money than usual is fine of course when we have planned for it, accounted for it in our budget, and when we can afford to do so with our own money. However, for many people at Christmas, this pressure and culture of spend, spend, spending, can be damaging and can lead to us getting into financial trouble.<\/p>\n<h2 style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Things to Watch out For this Christmas<\/h2>\n<p><strong>Scams!<\/strong> \u2013 we should stay alert to scams all year round, but Christmas is a particular time we may be more likely to get caught out. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.redstarwealth.co.uk\/blog\/scams-to-watch-out-for-this-christmas\/\">Click here <\/a>to read about some of the scams you should be on the lookout for<\/p>\n<p><strong>Funding Christmas by borrowing<\/strong> \u2013 as soon as you start paying for things with money you don\u2019t have, you are taking on a risk. This is particularly true at Christmas, as many of us may feel pressured to take out loans, turn to our credit card, use Buy Now Pay Later, or borrow from family members, all to pay for things that we don\u2019t really need. It\u2019s tricky navigating gift giving when you don\u2019t have lots of money spare, but this is where doing things like Secret Santa, or having an open and honest conversation with your family or friends about money on the run-up to Christmas, can really make a difference<\/p>\n<p><strong>Advertisements<\/strong> \u2013 pre-holiday deals like Black Friday can be a great way of getting the things we need for cheaper. However, these deals often make us feel like they\u2019re \u2018too good to miss,\u2019 convincing us to buy things we wouldn\u2019t have bought otherwise, racking up our spending. Additionally, advertisements can link in with social pressures, making us feel like we need to \u2018keep up appearances\u2019 and buy our loved ones the latest gadgets<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Though many of us love Christmas-time, it can also pressure us to spend beyond our means and lead to financial hardship. Let\u2019s try our best to avoid that this year\u2026 the question is just how? Recent Statistics 55% of UK adults expect to spend most of their 2024 Christmas budget on gifts for others (The [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":1850,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[1287,66,135,71,1293,202,1294,1295,1291,1285,44,70,1292,828,1289,519,1290,1286,98,1288,206],"class_list":["post-1844","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-balck-friday","tag-bnpl","tag-borrowing","tag-budget","tag-buy-now-pya-later","tag-christmas","tag-christmas-budget","tag-christmas-present","tag-christmas-shopping","tag-christmas-spending","tag-credit","tag-debt","tag-festivities","tag-gift","tag-gift-giving","tag-holiday","tag-holiday-shopping","tag-holiday-spending","tag-overspending","tag-present","tag-secret-santa"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v19.2 - 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