£343 warning issued to parents who are buying Christmas presents

Parents have been issued a £343 warning over buying presents for their children over Christmas. As many as 5.5 MILLION may need to sell items their children own, in order to afford costs and expenses associated with the festive season this year.

These include things they don’t want to sell, such as clothes, games consoles and even mobile phones. Hannah Rouch, consumer expert at the online seller, said: “We know that the reality for millions of families is that there is a very real pressure on finances and budgets over winter and the festive period.”

“Our latest research has shown that people are looking to sell goods to make ends meet and we are concerned that the Government’s announcements do not go far enough to help working families” she adds. “We implore the Government and decision-makers to seriously consider how to better help parents and children get through this winter.

READ MORE: Martin Lewis says four medical conditions could give people £0 council tax bill

READ MORE: New pension rules in England secretly 'scrapped' by Labour in u-turn

READ MORE UK set for new snow bomb which will 'explode' this weekend with 9 inches dumped

“While we are here to help people sell their goods, and find cheaper alternatives, we are also sharing resources for families who are struggling.” As 25 per cent of mums and dads polled expect to spend less than usual on their children’s presents this festive season, according to the survey of 2,000 UK consumers.

The research was commissioned by Gumtree, which also revealed listings for ‘free Christmas trees’ on their site have increased 613 per cent. Respondents expect on average to get into £343 worth of debt this Christmas and only half (50 per cent) expect to clear this debt by June.

In total, three in 10 of those polled (29 per cent) admit that Christmas will be harder for them to afford this year. With the top three reasons highlighted as simply ‘everything is more expensive’ (74 per cent), ‘I’m worried about utility prices rising’ (52 per cent) and ‘I’m worried about tax rises’ (22 per cent).