According to new research, the Christmas spending hangover will mean the average Briton owes over £450 on credit cards from funding holiday celebrations.
According to price comparison service uSwitch, a new survey found that £8.5 billion was loaded onto cards to cover the costs of gifts, food and entertainment.
Tashema Jackson, a money expert at uSwitch.com, said: “January should be a time for looking ahead but up and down the country millions of Brits will be looking over their shoulder at the cost of their festive spending,”
The average Briton borrowed £452 to cover the cost of this year’s Christmas. Last year, the average credit card debt carried on into the UK was £636.
uSwitch surveyed 4,000 people, half of whom were worried that they would still be carrying the debt on into the 2018 Christmas period.
According to uSwitch, 30 percent of respondents spent more money on Christmas because said it was more expensive this year. One survey found the average Christmas dinner from the UK’s cheapest supermarket to be 18 percent more expensive than in 2016. This is due to inflation and Brexit-related commodity costs.
The survey by Good Housekeeping magazine found that the cost of the cheapest Christmas dinner for 8 people had risen from £19.82 to £23.53.
“There’s been a significant rise in food prices across the board over the last year as a result of the weakening of the pound following the Brexit vote. Add to this inflation being stuck at a five-year high, and it’s no surprise to see the Christmas grocery bill has increased too,” said Caroline Bloor, Good Housekeeping’s consumer director.
The biggest price rise was in fish, increasing by 8.5 percent.
A further 18 percent of respondents said higher debt levels was because bigger it was expected from friends and family.