{"id":229,"date":"2017-12-11T12:47:31","date_gmt":"2017-12-11T12:47:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.redstareducation.co.uk\/blog\/?p=229"},"modified":"2017-12-19T10:42:57","modified_gmt":"2017-12-19T10:42:57","slug":"staying-out-of-debt-at-christmas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.redstareducation.co.uk\/blog\/staying-out-of-debt-at-christmas\/","title":{"rendered":"Staying Out Of Debt At Christmas"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Yes, it\u2019s that time of year again, Christmas is a favourite for many but a nightmare for some. It polarises opinion but love it or hate it one thing is guaranteed every Christmas; people in the UK will feel pressure to spend, spend and spend some more.<\/p>\n<p>Can Christmas be survived without financial stress, or the negative effects of debt? As a nation it seems not; we are guilty of overspending \u2013\u00a0recent research found that households in the UK expect to spend an average of \u00a3473.83 on presents this year, making us far more profligate than our European neighbours (that figure is just \u00a3273.48 in France, and \u00a3344.09 in Germany). Retailers predict that \u00a31.1bn will be spent on toys alone this Christmas, while Bank of England statistics show that a typical household will spend at least an extra \u00a3500 in December.<\/p>\n<p>A poll conducted for the Money Advice Trust found a significant proportion of people relying on credit to get through the Christmas season with some missing payments on household bills to cope financially. With so many people in the UK struggling with problem debt &#8211; more than a third of Britons will borrow money to cover the cost of presents this year \u2013 is Christmas really worth getting into debt for?<\/p>\n<p>How can people negotiate the perilous Christmas season without going into debt? Despite what the advertisers would have us believe, there are ways to arrange your finances so that Christmas doesn\u2019t leave you paying off debt for the rest of the year:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Buy Christmas gifts throughout the whole year, starting in January if necessary and using a pre-determined budget. This is a sure-fire way to ensure all your gifts are bought and paid for before December appears<\/li>\n<li>If you have children and are struggling financially, explain to the children that they may not receive as much as previous years and\/or other children, and the reasons for this. Being honest with your children ensures they understand the financial circumstances, and presents an excellent future example\u2013 if you can\u2019t afford it, don\u2019t go into debt for it<\/li>\n<li>Following on from this, give children the gift of your time. Children love spending quality time with their parents; package these up as gifts \u2013 a day in the park or a day of activities of their choice. Making children the centre of attention could be the most valuable gift of all<\/li>\n<li>Don\u2019t compare your presents to other people on social media \u2013 keep in mind social media will not give an honest portrayal of other people\u2019s Christmases. Social media users make everything look \u2018perfect\u2019. Who knows, maybe their hordes of presents under the tree are empty boxes or worst still, maybe they\u2019ve gone into debt just to secure that \u2018perfect\u2019 Christmas-gifts-under-the tree profile picture. Staying completely away from social media, or simply not comparing or competing with other people on social media, will ensure you don\u2019t get carried away with your Christmas spending<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>If you are struggling financially this Christmas, give these suggestions a try. Remember, Christmas is not worth going into debt over. Feel free to talk with your nearest and dearest about money this Christmas and if buying the perfect present for everyone is a struggle don\u2019t be afraid to tell them \u2013 they\u2019ll understand. Red Star Education encourages people to have discussions about money, try it this Christmas.\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-230\" src=\"http:\/\/www.redstareducation.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/newRSE-003-600x425.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"425\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.redstareducation.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/newRSE-003-600x425.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.redstareducation.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/newRSE-003-768x543.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.redstareducation.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/newRSE-003-800x566.jpg 800w, https:\/\/www.redstareducation.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/newRSE-003.jpg 1091w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Yes, it\u2019s that time of year again, Christmas is a favourite for many but a nightmare for some. It polarises opinion but love it or hate it one thing is guaranteed every Christmas; people in the UK will feel pressure to spend, spend and spend some more. Can Christmas be survived without financial stress, or [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":230,"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":[],"class_list":["post-229","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v19.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Staying Out Of Debt At Christmas - Red Star Education Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.redstareducation.co.uk\/blog\/staying-out-of-debt-at-christmas\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Staying Out Of Debt At Christmas - Red Star Education Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Yes, it\u2019s that time of year again, Christmas is a favourite for many but a nightmare for some. It polarises opinion but love it or hate it one thing is guaranteed every Christmas; people in the UK will feel pressure to spend, spend and spend some more. Can Christmas be survived without financial stress, or [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.redstareducation.co.uk\/blog\/staying-out-of-debt-at-christmas\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Red Star Education Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-12-11T12:47:31+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2017-12-19T10:42:57+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.redstareducation.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/newRSE-003.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1091\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"772\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Nick\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Nick\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.redstareducation.co.uk\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.redstareducation.co.uk\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Red Star Education Blog\",\"description\":\"Just another WordPress site\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.redstareducation.co.uk\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.redstareducation.co.uk\/blog\/staying-out-of-debt-at-christmas\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.redstareducation.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/newRSE-003.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.redstareducation.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/newRSE-003.jpg\",\"width\":1091,\"height\":772},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.redstareducation.co.uk\/blog\/staying-out-of-debt-at-christmas\/#webpage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.redstareducation.co.uk\/blog\/staying-out-of-debt-at-christmas\/\",\"name\":\"Staying Out Of Debt At Christmas - Red Star Education Blog\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.redstareducation.co.uk\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.redstareducation.co.uk\/blog\/staying-out-of-debt-at-christmas\/#primaryimage\"},\"datePublished\":\"2017-12-11T12:47:31+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-12-19T10:42:57+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.redstareducation.co.uk\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/796c2e0386ab3b559ef065e54ed3a7f8\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.redstareducation.co.uk\/blog\/staying-out-of-debt-at-christmas\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.redstareducation.co.uk\/blog\/staying-out-of-debt-at-christmas\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.redstareducation.co.uk\/blog\/staying-out-of-debt-at-christmas\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Blog Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.redstareducation.co.uk\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Staying Out Of Debt At Christmas\"}]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.redstareducation.co.uk\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/796c2e0386ab3b559ef065e54ed3a7f8\",\"name\":\"Nick\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.redstareducation.co.uk\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4662a886a1d123824893bd4cf7a85ac52f5a2dbb8f0c171437966fb7625e8b8a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4662a886a1d123824893bd4cf7a85ac52f5a2dbb8f0c171437966fb7625e8b8a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Nick\"},\"description\":\"Nick is Director of Red Star Education - a company which provides financial literacy courses to various organisations including some Premier League &amp; Championship football academies which he started in June 2014 with Kristen Durose, MD of Red Star Wealth. Nick is a highly qualified football coach having spent over 20 years in the game, including 10 in the USA. He is also a qualified further education tutor and passionate about increasing the levels of financial literacy in the UK.\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/www.redstareducation.co.uk\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.redstareducation.co.uk\/blog\/author\/nick-admin\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Staying Out Of Debt At Christmas - Red Star Education Blog","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.redstareducation.co.uk\/blog\/staying-out-of-debt-at-christmas\/","og_locale":"en_GB","og_type":"article","og_title":"Staying Out Of Debt At Christmas - Red Star Education Blog","og_description":"Yes, it\u2019s that time of year again, Christmas is a favourite for many but a nightmare for some. It polarises opinion but love it or hate it one thing is guaranteed every Christmas; people in the UK will feel pressure to spend, spend and spend some more. Can Christmas be survived without financial stress, or [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/www.redstareducation.co.uk\/blog\/staying-out-of-debt-at-christmas\/","og_site_name":"Red Star Education Blog","article_published_time":"2017-12-11T12:47:31+00:00","article_modified_time":"2017-12-19T10:42:57+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1091,"height":772,"url":"https:\/\/www.redstareducation.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/newRSE-003.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Nick","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Nick","Estimated reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.redstareducation.co.uk\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.redstareducation.co.uk\/blog\/","name":"Red Star Education Blog","description":"Just another WordPress site","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.redstareducation.co.uk\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/www.redstareducation.co.uk\/blog\/staying-out-of-debt-at-christmas\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.redstareducation.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/newRSE-003.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.redstareducation.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/newRSE-003.jpg","width":1091,"height":772},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.redstareducation.co.uk\/blog\/staying-out-of-debt-at-christmas\/#webpage","url":"https:\/\/www.redstareducation.co.uk\/blog\/staying-out-of-debt-at-christmas\/","name":"Staying Out Of Debt At Christmas - Red Star Education Blog","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.redstareducation.co.uk\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.redstareducation.co.uk\/blog\/staying-out-of-debt-at-christmas\/#primaryimage"},"datePublished":"2017-12-11T12:47:31+00:00","dateModified":"2017-12-19T10:42:57+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.redstareducation.co.uk\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/796c2e0386ab3b559ef065e54ed3a7f8"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.redstareducation.co.uk\/blog\/staying-out-of-debt-at-christmas\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.redstareducation.co.uk\/blog\/staying-out-of-debt-at-christmas\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.redstareducation.co.uk\/blog\/staying-out-of-debt-at-christmas\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Blog Home","item":"https:\/\/www.redstareducation.co.uk\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Staying Out Of Debt At Christmas"}]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.redstareducation.co.uk\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/796c2e0386ab3b559ef065e54ed3a7f8","name":"Nick","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/www.redstareducation.co.uk\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4662a886a1d123824893bd4cf7a85ac52f5a2dbb8f0c171437966fb7625e8b8a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4662a886a1d123824893bd4cf7a85ac52f5a2dbb8f0c171437966fb7625e8b8a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Nick"},"description":"Nick is Director of Red Star Education - a company which provides financial literacy courses to various organisations including some Premier League &amp; Championship football academies which he started in June 2014 with Kristen Durose, MD of Red Star Wealth. Nick is a highly qualified football coach having spent over 20 years in the game, including 10 in the USA. He is also a qualified further education tutor and passionate about increasing the levels of financial literacy in the UK.","sameAs":["http:\/\/www.redstareducation.co.uk"],"url":"https:\/\/www.redstareducation.co.uk\/blog\/author\/nick-admin\/"}]}},"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.redstareducation.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/229","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.redstareducation.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.redstareducation.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.redstareducation.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.redstareducation.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=229"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.redstareducation.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/229\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":235,"href":"https:\/\/www.redstareducation.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/229\/revisions\/235"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.redstareducation.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/230"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.redstareducation.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=229"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.redstareducation.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=229"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.redstareducation.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=229"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}