Britons are still paying credit cards from LAST Christmas!

December 5, 2006

It is claimed that some 4.2million Britons are still paying their credit cards used for LAST year’s Christmas according to a new research.

On average British people cleared their Christmas time credit card debt by around March 2006, however there are still a fair number trying to do so.

It would seem the temptation is too strong for some to just put all their Christmas shopping on their cards. While most will no doubt have very good intentions to clear the debt as quickly as possible, with over four million with outstanding debts a full year later it is clear this is not being put into practise and that many of us need to really shake up our finances.

Figures from Moneyexpert show almost one credit card holder in eight still has debts on their cards from last Christmas. In addition around £11.4 billion is expected to be spent on plastic this holiday season which could pose large problems later on. They give examples such as a £1,000 balance at Christmas 2005 will have had around £169 in interest charged on it over the last year at 16.9 per cent. However this figure could have been reduced if you had transferred this balance to a 12-month interest-free credit card deal with a provider such as Barclaycard, Virgin Money or Citibank.

Generally speaking transferring a balance incurs an initial fee, but for those who know for sure they will not be clearing their debt anytime soon, it can see the total cost of carrying a balance on a credit card fall from £169 to £20.

This saving of £149 is more than enough to buy a few extra presents.