Credit cards used yearly to fund Christmas

December 8, 2006

It is a fact that people all over the UK use their credit cards year after year in order to fund their Christmas shopping. Gifts for friends and family as well as decorations and party food all add up and often consumers end up paying their overdrawn balance off for the rest of the year.

However, whilst many do spend the rest of the following year paying off their debts accumulated by their credit cards, most say that they aim to pay it off by January when they originally overdraw. People simply are not taking into account that things can crop up, and often the money that we saved aside to pay for our overdrafts, gets paid to something else.

One shocking fact is that many people who have an overdraft with their credit card from Christmas tend to take out a loan to pay it off. This usually leaves them in debt for often a lot longer than they would have been as interest rates soar and lower monthly repayments mean that the loan isn’t paid off for a longer period of time.

So just what is it about Christmas that makes people rush out and overspend?

Well, it seems that giving a gift at Christmas is the main reason behind it, however when you think about it, burdening yourself with financial problems is surely not a good way to start the New Year. Christmas is all about families and having fun, not getting yourself in financial difficulties to fund it. It should not matter how much money you have, it should all be about spending time together and making do with what you have. It might not get you that expensive gift you have been after for the past couple of months, but it will bring you closer together and ensure that you have the best New Year that you possibly can!

Sadly debt at Christmas through credit cards is unlikely to stop anytime soon and as long as the temptation is there, people will use it.