Martin Lewis issues £800 warning to UK households and says act 'now'
Martin Lewis has warned that people across the country may be doing more financial harm than good by buying loads of presents for Christmas
Martin Lewis has issued a stark warning to UK households - and said people need to act now before it's too late. Speaking on BBC Radio 5 Live, he pointed out that many people, even those who are usually financially savvy, often fall into common traps when it comes to Christmas spending, and need to get a move on.
He emphasised the danger of setting unrealistic expectations for the holiday season and overspending as a result. He also touched on the potential harm that can come from buying gifts for others.
He said: "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: 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 counselling 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 have a crack at 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 highlighted the "social phobia" of creating the perfect Christmas, emphasising that the holiday shouldn't be about splurging all your cash and that gift-giving shouldn't be a forced expenditure. He underscored that in certain instances, giving a present "can be selfish", as it could compel those who lack the funds to feel obliged to purchase a return gift simply because they received one.
