Cut Backs For Christmas – 83% of Consumers in the UK Have Money Worries This Year

December 3, 2010 – A new survey from DiscountVouchers.co.uk has found that 83% of people in the UK are worried about being able to pay for Christmas; 26% have thought about not bothering with Christmas and 84% want to a lot less this year.

The new survey asked more than 1,000 people from the UK and found that a third will reduce their spending by 25% and 25% of people will spend half of what they did last year. It was found that 54% are reducing the amount of Christmas food they buy; 57% will buy less or cheaper gifts for their partner; 49% are reducing the amount of gifts for their kids; 12% will not buy a Christmas tree; 54% won't buy new party outfits; and 30% will go to less parties.

From DiscountVouchers.co.uk, Simon Terry the media contact commented on the recent survey: "With the VAT increase in January and the cost of Christmas always rising, people are worried about affording it. With job cuts and spiralling costs, the festive season is looking grim for many of us".

Christmas is looking to be a worrying time for many people in the UK this year, with 42% struggling to come up with the cash for parties, entertainment and gifts, and only 8.5% will receive a Christmas bonus this year from work.

To pay for the festive season, 3% of Brits are using short-term loans and a third will use credit cards. Out of these two categories, 35% are concerned about the rate of the interest from the lending companies but have no other option. Around 15% of people have been selling gold or jewellery to pay for Christmas. In order to fund the season, 25% will buy second hand gifts for Christmas, from charity shops or online at eBay.

Simon continued, "Using discount vouchers people can save money on most brands and this should help with the increasing expenditure Christmas is costing us. When buying things, try and haggle on the price as negotiating is becoming more common nowadays".

From the results of the survey it showed 39% pay £500-£1,000 on Christmas; 32% pay £250-£500; 2% spend more than £2,500; and 16% spend £1,000-£2,500 during December.

Children's Christmas presents is a large portion of the spending which looks like; over £1000 per child is 3% of the UK; £300-£500 is around 10% of the UK; £150-£300 amounts to 22% of the population; and 43% spend around £50-£150 per child.

One of the UK's money saving websites DiscountVouchers.co.uk has exclusive deals and hundreds of discounts for Boden, Travelodge, Sainsbury's, Tesco, Marks & Spencer, First Choice and Tesco among others.

Find out the latest and best deals for saving money at www.discountvouchers.co.uk.

About DiscountVouchers.co.uk
DiscountVouchers.co.uk features the latest money saving offers from a growing range of retailers, all updated in real time. Designed to help consumers save money with both leading high street brands and specialist retailers, DiscountVouchers.co.uk offers one of the widest choices of discounts available.

Part of ASAP Ventures Ltd, the company behind the award winning Carrentals.co.uk price comparison site, DiscountVouchers.co.uk is committed to offering a growing range of the best savings available online.

For more information visit www.discountvouchers.co.uk

Media contact –
Rachel Builder & Jenny White
Context
discountvouchers@contextpr.co.uk
T: 01625 511966