Monday, December 19, 2011
Category:
Consolidation
According to new research from Barclaycard, when it comes to buying Christmas gifts, 15 percent of Brits will feel ‘most panicked’ on December 20th as they search for last minute presents for their friends and family.
Barclaycard’s research has also uncovered that Brits are intending to part with an average sum of £32 per gift this year; however, it is probable that 34 percent will spend more the longer they wait before doing their shopping. Findings have also shown that an additional 36 percent do not monitor their spending leading up to Christmas.
It is anticipated that more than two million Brits will be heading to the high street this week in order to do the bulk of their Christmas shopping. In fact, it has been revealed that 40 percent will be buying gifts for at least ten of their nearest and dearest. This last minute shopping has reportedly left 34 percent of respondents feeling stressed, 29 percent feeling anxious, 10 percent feeling panicked, and 8 percent being unaware of their expenditure.
The research also uncovered that Brits had planned to spend an average sum of £362 on Christmas presents in 2010, but actually went £65 over budget. For 63 percent, despite the more challenging economic conditions, the intention is to spend the same amount this year – if not more so.
Barclaycard has pointed out that ‘financial sense’ seems to be outweighed by the desire to find the ‘right gift’, with 80 percent admitting that they would exceed their budget if necessary. This will reportedly see Brits parting with an average sum of £9 extra per gift, whilst 20 percent would be willing to spend an £15 more than what they had budgeted.
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Homeowners who are turning to expensive credit cards or store cards to fund their Christmas shopping could consider taking out a secured loan in the New Year to consolidate these debts. One of many finance options available, a secured loan could allow borrowers to reduce multiple, monthly repayments down to just one, manageable repayment each month. This single, monthly repayment could even be lower than the sum of current outgoings. As such,
secured personal loans can help homeowners to free up extra money each. However, if opting for a secured loan to consolidate debt, it should be remembered that consolidating your debt may increase the amount you pay back overall and extend the repayment periods of your debts.
