Meeting the Cost of Christmas Present(s)

CHESTER, England, November 7, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --



• Nearly a quarter (23 per cent) of Brits will use savings, up 15 per cent from 2011
• 38 per cent will cover the cost with disposable income
• One in ten will use credit or store cards to pay for Christmas this year

The Christmas countdown is on and with less than eight weeks to go, Britain's number one comparison site MoneySupermarket.com reveals over a third of Christmas spenders plan to dip into savings to meet the cost, while another third will use the cash they have available to fund the festivities.

With a maximum of two more pay days until Christmas, a recent MoneySupermarket poll* of almost 3,000 site users reveals only 38 per cent will fund Christmas using disposable income while a further 23 per cent will use their savings; up by 15 per cent from 2011**. A quarter (24 per cent) will use an existing savings account to fund their festivities, while one in ten (10 per cent) will use a savings scheme in which they've saved up throughout the year to fund Christmas.

Plastic is also on the list as a way to pay for Christmas, with one in ten people (10 per cent) putting festive spending on a credit or store card, and a small number (3 per cent) who expect to use their overdraft to meet costs over the festive period. However, this is a slight fall from this time last year.

Kevin Mountford, head of banking at MoneySupermarket  commented: "With December creeping around the corner, many people may be dreading meeting the cost of Christmas presents and all the trimmings. We've experienced a costly year including price hikes on SVR's for many mortgage borrowers combined with the recent energy price rises. It comes as no surprise that a quarter of those polled plan to break into their personal savings pot to get through the Christmas season. Yule tide can be an expensive time and it's easy to get swept up in the festivities and spirit of spending. There's still plenty of time ahead to make a budget and stick to it, to avoid spending more than planned.

"For those who haven't done so already, it's not too late to start saving for Christmas this year- just setting aside twenty pounds each week over the next few weeks could save you from skating on thin financial ice and help prevent sole reliance on your December salary to pay for everything. Savers should check the rate on savings accounts and look to switch to the most competitive deal in order to fuel savings returns. Chelsea Building Society currently offers the market leading savings account, its e-Saver Reward pays 2.60 per cent.

"Those using plastic to cover the cost of Christmas could look at using a cashback credit card to earn money on spending- the cashback gained from spending throughout the year could be put towards next Christmas' funds and is a much better alternative to high interest rate store cards as they offer a more competitive interest rate and still reward for spending. The American Express Platinum Cashback Card for example offers 5% cashback on your first £2,500 spend within the first three months. You will then earn 1.25% cashback on all other spend. Alternatively, a zero per cent interest on purchases card such as the Tesco Clubcard Credit Card offering 16 months interest free on purchases could be another way to manage your costs, providing you spend within your means and pay off the balance as soon as possible.

"Responsible budgeting and spending really is a must this Christmas, to avoid a costly financial hangover that runs into January. The last thing anyone wants is to be paying off the cost of Christmas past next year. By planning ahead, reviewing your finances and shopping around using a comparison site such as MoneySupermarket.com, you can ensure you find the best product to suit your needs."

Notes to Editors

*MoneySupermarket webpoll 2012

How will you cover the cost of Christmas this year?

• I'll dip into savings - 23.7%
• I'll use my disposable income - 38.1%
• I'll use my credit card/store card - 10.5%
• I'll have to use my overdraft - 3.2%
• I have been saving up all year via a savings scheme - 9.7%
• I'll borrow money from friends and/or family - 1.6%
• Unsure or don't know - 4.6%
• I don't celebrate Christmas - 8.5%

Total votes: 2910

Voting Ended: 06/11/2012

**MoneySupermarket webpoll 2011

How will you cover the cost of Christmas this year?

• I'll dip into savings 20.8%
• I'll use my disposable income 38.1%
• I'll use my credit card/store card 11.4%
• I'll have to use my overdraft 4.4%
• I have been saving up all year via a savings scheme 8.4%
• I'll borrow money from friends and/or family 0.7%
• Unsure / don't know 5.7%
• I don't celebrate Christmas 7.4%
• Other 3.1%

Total Votes: 5817

Voting Ended: 31/10/2011

MoneySupermarket.com compares (at 30^th August 2012)

• 107 car insurance providers and 82 home insurance providers
• 12 broadband providers and 18 energy providers   
• 32 unsecured loan and 6 secured loan providers
• 62 mortgage lenders and 28 credit card providers
• 66 savings providers and 37 current account providers.
• Over 1,200,000 mobile phone deals

Our customers

We help our customers to save money on all of their household bills by providing a free, easy to use online service so they can compare a wide range of products in one place and find the product most suited to their needs. Our size means we are able to offer our customers exclusive, market-leading deals, including some they can't even get direct from providers.

Our providers

By having considerable volumes of informed customers actively looking for products and ready to purchase, we offer our providers an efficient and cost effective customer acquisition solution across all of our channels. This enables our providers to target their marketing spend in an effective and completely measurable way.

Our revenue comes predominantly from fees paid to us by product providers when a customer clicks through to their website and actually applies for or purchases a product. It is a success based marketing fee.

For further information please contact:
Paul Lawler / Nicki Parry
MoneySupermarket.com
+44-(0)787-237-9545 / +44-(0)1244-370-318
Paul.lawler@moneysupermarket.com / nicki.parry@moneysupermarket.com