Poor planning leads to overspending this Christmas
According to credit card provider Egg, late holiday shoppers are set to exceed their budgets by an average of 39%, or £150 per person. Egg research shows that a frantic rush for gifts will send around 4 millions Britons to the shops in the last week before Christmas. More than 800,000 of these will leave their spending to Christmas Eve. In total, holiday shoppers are expected to overspend their budgets by a collective £594 million.
Poor planning is the major culprit, says Alison Wright, Chief Marketing Officer at Egg. “Each year we get 12 months advance warning that Christmas is coming, but still often resort to last minute panic buying. Consumers need to try to find ways to drive down the overall cost of Christmas - one way seems to be by avoiding those last minute shopping sprees, when lack of choice and panic buying are rife.”
Egg research also found that, despite popular belief, there is no difference between men and women when it comes to last minute panic buying. Women are just as bad as men about failing to plan ahead for the holidays.