The results show we will spend £1,811.70 per person on average preparing for the upcoming celebrations, according to ITV consumer news editor Chris Choy.
The old Christmas song says: “It’s the most wonderful time of the year.”
It is definitely the most expensive for millions.
ITV News has new figures on strained festive finances and a debt warning ahead of Christmas.
Christmas amidst this cost of living crisis is exacerbating budget pressures for many families.
ITV News has joined volunteers at the Salvation Army Toy Bank in Portsmouth.
Last year, the organization distributed gifts to 76,000 families across the UK, and this Christmas many areas are seeing increased demand for help.
One of those getting help is mother of two, Paige Mellish.
She has great support from friends and family but is out of work due to illness and this time of year has brought her tough financial expenses.
She told us that she had to change her shopping habits due to the high cost of living.
“You say, ‘Oh wow, wait a minute, the price has gone up too much. I can’t afford it,’ and you bring it back,” she said.
New costs of Christmas research provided exclusively to ITV News by MoneySuperMarket shows that each person typically spent just £126.30 on travel for Christmas this year – and more than £28 on Christmas cards.
Other results show that overall we will spend £1,811.70 per person on average preparing for the upcoming celebrations.
High seasonal prices have led to a debt warning that about one in five of those borrowing to fund the festivities will take more than a year to repay.
Richard Lane, of debt charity StepChange, told us that one in four people said they couldn’t afford Christmas.
“Four million people will resort to credit just to be able to put Christmas dinner on the table this year,” he said.
Today’s Christmas shopping scenes are already looking tense – and there’s still another week to go.
The bottom line of these figures is that an adult in the United Kingdom will spend about 80% of the average monthly salary to finance these celebrations.
Most of the charities and experts we spoke to, as you might imagine, urge caution when it comes to paying off large credit bills for Christmas.
They point out that people might love a gift from you, but if they really care about you, they’d probably prefer you not to be saddled with New Year’s debt.
Many experts tell us that Secret Santa gifts are on the rise this year. Of course, it is one way to enjoy the festivities with a large group but you can only buy one gift.
And this year, there are more apps than ever to help organize your Secret Santa.
Many people, including ITV finance expert Martin Lewis, have suggested a very radical approach – don’t buy gifts.
By that they mean that a lot of this means that we buy for someone just in case they buy for us.
It’s kind of an escalating gift “arms race” if you’re not careful. So make no-buy agreements for certain people in your circle.
But let me tell you about one of the survey statistics buried in the holiday pile — nearly half of the people surveyed said what they valued most was spending time with their loved ones.
So perhaps the best gift you can give this Christmas is to be yourself.
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