Does Britain need to rethink Christmas spending habits
 

http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/s...ts-Europe.html

Are we more susceptible to advertising or just stupid enough to get into debt for bath bombs?

British shoppers spend more on Christmas presents than anyone in Europe - and are the most likely to get into debt doing it
Average Briton will spend £350 on Christmas gifts
This is £110 higher than those in the next nearest countries
But 14% may find themselves in debt to fund festive splurge
By Lee Boyce for Thisismoney.co.uk

Nicky and the Netherlands at the bottom of the Poll :clap1:

The government loves people to be in debt and encourages it, that's what keeps people in work and the governments in power and control

It's a "got to have" mentality.
Woe betide any parent that won't/can't buy little Johnny/Jenny the latest fad and have their kids ridiculed.

I think if you looked at the demographics of the spending, the majority of that would come from England and the South East, so they actually have a worse problem than it looks

I've never understood why people take out loans to pay for Xmas. The chances are, if you need to take out a loan to buy little Johnny all those presents he doesn't need, its because you can't afford it and if you can't afford the presents, you likely can't afford the loan you now have to pay back.

Britain is a consumer society and some children being brought up in this consumer society are being taught from an early age, that they can have anything they desire. Just ask and Santa will deliver it on a plate. Mum and dad can't afford to pay for Johnnys school lunch but when it comes to Xmas, there will be dozens of expensive presents under the tree just for him. I don't think its healthy. It doesn't teach these children to be careful with money. It doesn't teach them how to be thrifty when times are short or that saving their pocket has benefits. All we are teaching them is 'indulgence is fine'.

:clap2:

You are probably right

i wish id only spent £350

:idc:

New breasts are not cheap lt

All the better to fit into his new princess dress though.

i spent that at Tesco on food ffs

but i love Christmas so i dont care

:hee:

The TL and I went on a Moleskine stationary shopping extravaganza at lunch too

so there

Oh I thought he was doing porn movies again for the start of the car boot season

:oh:

That's not the point, you can afford it, its about living within your means and not overstretching and spending on stuff people don't need or often don't want :oh:

You may be referring to the half bloody full shoebox of Pandora charms the TL has...

:idc:

You only buy her them so when she is wearing them she can't run away

Actually the floating locket thing i am very pleased with as it goes and the girls love the charm bracelets so that shop did me proud this Chrimbo. God only knows how much they took nationally

:shocked:

It’s a tricky one. I always wanted to give my daughters the Christmas I never had growing up . I wanted them to have nice things to open on Christmas . When we’ve had the money we’ve got them nice things , and when we haven’t we’ve had to compromise a little and be a bit more creative . We’ve tried to avoid putting Christmas On a Credit card. The important thing is to teach kids the value of money . You don’t have to deprive of them of the jewellery or make up or games consoles to teach them that lesson . Our kids did alright growing up but they’ve not turned out spoilt . R.

Everyone should reconsider spending habits in general. Many people punch above their weight with the amount they spend when they actually can't afford it... Consumerism is just another terrible symptom of the American capitalism.

As a society we are foolish men who have built all of our houses upon the sand - that is to say, all of our stock is in the free market capitalist bubble and we sort of have to accept that. We stop spending and the whole thing washes away with the next tide. Sooo basically... we're not going to change / fix it, so we might as well enjoy Christmas :shrug:.

I mean, I have a not insignificant amount of credit card debt, have done for years. After Christmas, between us me n' the wife had about £800 of "Christmas funds" left over... and yeah, we COULD have lumped all of that onto a credit card, but would it actually make any difference at all to our month to month budget if we did? Nope. Piss in the ocean. So we bought a nice big 4k telly instead :joker:.

People should only spend what they can afford, I don't get how so many people struggle to understand this.

If people want to buy more expensive gifts that wouldn't otherwise be able to afford then save your money bit by bit all year and then you can get the gift and not be broke. Common sense people.:laugh:

No, it's up to an individual what they want to spend. If they save all year round to spend thousands then that's up to them.

That's because they can afford it which is okay.

I honestly don't get people though who put themselves in debt over Christmas presents, when I was a kid I would be happy with just a cheap toy, or a £1 Football, and I'm sure that most kids would still be happy with that today if their parents couldn't afford them the latest IPhone's or Playstation.

I wouldn't mind payday loan companies being outlawed entirely, they're just there to entrap idiots.

I dunno, I can't save for ****. I tried to save 1.5k for a new gaming PC for about 3 years... I get to maybe 3 / 400 and end up spending it on something else :shrug:. Whereas if I get something "buy now pay 12 months later", which most tech sites offer these days, I'm pretty consistent at getting paid off in time, usually early. And they don't charge interest unless you go beyond your fee free period (they bank on people missing the deadline).

Piling up interest-gathering debt is stupid though. I still have a tonne of it from when I was a student... And that was 8 years ago now :umm2:. Again for the same reason as above though, I'm terrible at getting it paid off, I'm so used to it being a standard part of my outgoings that I don't miss the minimum payments but DO miss any extra cash I put on to try to pay it off. Really what I need is a fixed term consolidation loan to plough on with... But getting a decent interest rate is impossible if you're not a homeowner.