Many plan to use credit cards for Christmas
November 19, 2010
With Christmas almost upon on many people are now making plans to start their Christmas shopping, with consumers planning to buy gifts, food, clothes, and other items that they see necessary for the festive season. However, the past year has been a tough one in terms of finances for many people, and a huge number of people will be planning to pay for Christmas by borrowing money.
Figures that were released recently have suggested that more than 50 percent of consumers are planning to use their credit cards to pay for Christmas. However, worryingly many of those planning to use credit cards to fund Christmas have not even finished paying off the debt that they accrued last year, which means that they will simply be adding to their debt.
The figures showed that 55 percent of consumers were planning to use their credit cards to pay for Christmas, and a further 3 percent said that they would be taking out a loan to pay for their Christmas purchases. However, 24 percent of consumers said that they do not want to get into debt, and will therefore pay for Christmas by using their savings.
The survey was carried out by ConsumerIntelligence.com. Officials said that the number of people planning to put Christmas on credit had shot up from the 14 percent seen doing this last year, 34 percent of whom are still trying to clear this debt.
Tags: christmas shopping, huge number, day, substantial number, financial effects, money figuresConsumerIntelligence MD, Ian Hughes, said: “Christmas is only one day in the year but the financial effects appear to last all year for a substantial number of adults. Around 14% of adults got into debt as a result of Christmas spending last year and many are still paying for that.”