According to our latest research, British consumers expect to spend over £500 this Christmas on gifts, socialising and entertaining, with men emerging as the festive big spenders.

The Christmas indulgence will be funded by a combination of income, savings and debt, and shoppers in Wales and the North East are set to spend the most over the festive period.

The findings are part of True Potential’s on-going Tackling the Savings Gap campaign, which was launched in 2013 to investigate the nation’s savings and debt habits. The figures also show that 33% of consumers have set themselves a limit of £250 this Christmas while 12% intend to spend more than £1,000 over the festive season.

Brits have been putting more money aside in the build up to Christmas, saving on average £900 over the last three months compared to £737 over the previous quarter. Personal debt has also been rising however with UK spenders building up £426 of new debt on loans, credit cards, store cards and pay day loans over the last three months. This compares to £379 over the previous quarter.

Our research also shows that there are large regional differences when it comes to the Christmas budget. Shoppers in Wales are the biggest Christmas spenders, paying out 43% more than those in East Anglia who intend to spend the least.

Commenting on the research, our Managing Partner David Harrison said: “The festive season is always a time when we see consumers spending more on gifts, socialising and entertaining. In spite of the hype and scenes associated with stunts such as Black Friday, what our research shows is that consumers have been saving up for Christmas over recent months and they are not planning a debt fuelled, extravagant Christmas.

“Planning ahead and saving up is the best way to avoid starting the New Year with a hefty bill in the post and punishing high interest payments that can take months to clear. It looks like consumers have adopted a more prudent approach this year as almost two thirds of us will pay for Christmas out of our own income and savings.”

How much is Christmas costing you this year?

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