Our £2.11bn Last Minute Spend-Up

This year we're spending more and leaving our Christmas shopping til later than ever before. New research published this week by Sainsbury's bank reveals that we Britons are planning to spend over £11.85 billion enjoying the festivities over the final 7 day countdown to Christmas.

Forecasts suggest that over £2.11bn of this last minute spending will be paid for on credit card, with over 8.6million paying for at least 50% of their shopping by plastic. This figure is up from 6.5million people last year, suggesting a shift in the way we’re spending.

A statement from Head of Sainsbury’s Credit Cards, Donald MacLeod only emphasises the advantages of spending for Christmas on card: “Credit cards can be a safe and convenient way to do your Christmas shopping and some provide great rewards for using them."

However, this very same research does suggest that many of us will be left suffering with a financial hangover from our festive spending as January arrives. Sainsbury’s bank found that only 61% of us plan to clear our Christmas spend by the start of February, with 15% still expecting to be covering the cost in March.

While this does sound like a worrying statistic, if people have been savvy enough to take advantage of one of the many ‘purchase’ credit cards that offer several interest free months before interest starts to accumulate, at least we won’t end up paying more for Christmas than we bargained for.

Compare Credit Cards via money.co.uk