Christmas is often a time of excess, but even before people’s thoughts turn to trimming the waistline it appears many of us are cutting costs and planning festive fun on a tighter budget.
New Which? research has found that two thirds of us are planning to cut back on Christmas spending this year, and my family is among them.
In the past my family has been guilty of buying each other some pricey presents, but those were during times when we had a lot more spare cash to splash.
How people are cutting Christmas costs
More than half of the people in our survey said Christmas is financially tougher this year than last. That’s something which resonates with my family, so we’ve set a modest limit for presents to try and control costs. Around one in five people are only going to buy presents for children, not adults.
However, the way most people are going to cut back is by opting for cheaper Christmas food (25%). To save some money we’ve discussed which naughty and nice nibbles we want (Malteasers) and which ones can stay in the supermarket’s sack (those fancy crackers for a start).
Others are spending less on decorations (23%) and less on entertainment (22%), like going to pantomimes. One in 10 people (11%) are even cutting back on the electricity they use for Christmas lights.
The true meaning of Christmas
The year Santa/society deemed I was too old for Lego, the importance of presents rapidly diminished and I now much prefer the more altruistic aspects of Christmas.
From drinks with my childhood friends on Christmas Eve to the mini family festival that runs through to the end of Boxing Day; they are always delightful days full of feasting, silly games, jigsaws and losing copious card games at the hand of my wily 91-year-old gran.
And getting to spend such quality time with close family and friends always provide the most fantastically fun and memorable moments, don’t they?
So with the majority of Brits (93%) saying people are under pressure to spend too much at Christmas, are you cutting back? If so, how?