Friday, October 13, 2006
Category:
Consolidation
Research from moneysupermarket.com has highlighted the growing bill British holidaymakers are racking up on holidays.
It is estimated that this summer over £9 billion was spent abroad on credit cards. Interest on holiday debt, as repayments are dragged out, could top £550 million by New Year according to moneysupermarket.com.
Rob Kenley, moneysupermarket.com’s head of credit cards, said, “You could be left with more than a tan if you don’t think about how to handle your debt when you come home. If you are one of the 41 per cent of credit card holders who fail to clear their balance at the end of each month you would be wise to transfer your debt onto one of the 49 zero per cent balance transfer deals available in order to minimise the amount you will pay in interest. You would also be advised to begin saving towards paying off the balance when the zero per cent deal ends.”
A growing number of Britons, more than half (57 per cent) according to the research carried out by moneysupermarket.com, use their credit cards to finance their summer holidays. On average it is estimated that they run up credit card bills of £799. Further research has shown that 9% of Britons spend more than £1,001 on their holidays and a further 5% spend over £2,001. This value that holidaymakers are spending abroad amounts to a total card spend of £9bn. This figure takes into account the 16 million who travelled abroad this summer.
Brits who are not able to clear their credit card balance shortly after arriving home, or who are not able to transfer it to a card offering a 0 per cent deal, are increasing the likelihood of facing a cumulative interest charges bill topping £550 million in only 5 months. For those travellers not able to clear the debt incurred on holiday in full on their return they could see a rise in their credit card bill by the New Year.
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By consolidating all existing debt into one place, personal finances become more straightforward to handle. A personal
secured loan can help reduce monthly outgoings and also spread payments over a term of 5 to 25 years. By wrapping several different monthly outgoings into one uncomplicated transaction the stress of coming home to unpaid bills and increasing debt could be long gone.
