7 percent fall expected in Christmas spending overall

According to recently released figures an overall fall of around 7 percent is expected in Christmas spending for this year, as consumers continue to try and cut back on their expenditure. The cutbacks will be made in a range of areas, such as gifts, food, clothes, entertainment, and socialising. The survey was carried out by research group Deloitte, and showed the different areas in which people were planning to cut back on their Christmas spending. Read more

Tags: Verdict Research, research, Opinions, Deloitte, holidays, financial situation, consumers, Business Finance

Consumers advised to save for Christmas

Despite the fact summer has just arrived, consumers are being urged to start thinking about Christmas and begin to save now.

While most people will be considering what summer clothes to add to their wardrobe, Fool.co.uk suggests that people should in fact already be putting money aside to provide themselves with a healthy spending pot by the time the festive season approaches.

We are now well into the second half of the year and there are only around 130 shopping days left before Christmas.

However, most consumers are not saving anything for the festive period despite the fact that we spend more at that time of year than at any other point in the calendar.

And it’s not just presents, with a host of celebratory events meaning we spend huge sums on food and drink, whether at home or at bars and restaurants, during the Christmas period.

As a result the New Year often sees a significant increase in people suffering debt problems, meaning it is important to begin saving now to avoid the post-Christmas blues being combined with hefty credit card bills.

Tags: period, summer, Opinions, debt, anything