Martin Lewis issues £800 Christmas present warning that could change your festive season
As we approach the festive season, Martin Lewis has issued a cautionary note. Speaking on BBC Radio 5 Live, Martin pointed out that many people often fall into common traps when it comes to Christmas spending.
Even those who are usually savvy with their savings can fall prey to these pitfalls. He particularly emphasised the issue of people setting unrealistic expectations for their Christmas celebrations and subsequently overspending.
He also touched upon the potential harm that could come from buying gifts for others. He highlighted this while discussing the substantial amount the average family spends during the holiday season.
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He explained: "This is all about your worst financial mistakes...one of the big mistakes many people make at Christmas is they, in their mind, come up with a lust list - what is the perfect Christmas. And if you come up with a lust list, for most people, that will either lead to one of two things: debt or disappointment because you won't get it."
"Now, forgive me for being all bah humbug about this but Christmas is a huge proportion of the year's annual expenditure, the average person spends £800 on it, the average family... 800 quid a year.", reports the Manchester Evening News.
"It's getting up there with a family holiday. Most people can't afford that out of December's income."
"You need to do some pre-planning and if I may just take a bit of an advantage for the moment to say this is a public service announcement to everybody...Christmas this year will be on the 25th of December, note that down it's not unexpected...but when I come into January, January is the biggest time for all the debt councilling agencies and when you talk to people about why they've gone then, they say Christmas of course."
"But Christmas is not unexpected which is why we're doing it now because you need to plan for it now.."
When it comes to the lust list, Martin advises to put together a tight budget on what you can afford to spend on Christmas and then base off your best possible Christmas on that budget.
He highlighted that it's important to stay on that budget because Christmas is only one day and "not worth the financial hangover".
He also pointed out the "social phobia" of having the perfect Christmas and spoke about how the holiday shouldn't be about spending all your money and that giving gifts shouldn't be about being forced to spend money.
He highlighted that in some cases giving a gift "can be selfish" as it could force people who don't have the money to spend on a gift then feel obligated to buy one because they received one.