UK* adults will have amassed a savings pot of £8.5bn by Christmas to fund their spending this year, according to research by Aviva that examines people’s financial planning for the festive season. However, the findings also show that many people do not put aside any money or budget for Christmas, causing more than one in four (27%) to overspend or go into debt. Women are more likely than men to feel guilty about overspending afterwards, while almost half have ‘recycled’ an unwanted gift in the past.
UK* adults will have amassed a savings pot of £8.5bn by Christmas to fund their spending this year, according to research by Aviva that examines people’s financial planning for the festive season.
However, the findings also show that many people do not put aside any money or budget for Christmas, causing more than one in four (27%) to overspend or go into debt. Women are more likely than men to feel guilty about overspending afterwards, while almost half have ‘recycled’ an unwanted gift in the past.
£8.5bn is saved in the UK for Christmas
- Aviva’s research shows two in five (41%) UK adults put money aside to help pay for Christmas costs. Those in Wales are most likely to do so (48%) while those in Yorkshire and Humberside are the least likely to save (36%).
- Among those who save, the average amount set aside is just under £420 per person, with men saving £83 more than women. One in five savers (20%) has saved more than £600 for Christmas.
- With 41% (20.3m) of the UK’s* 49.5m adults over the age of 18 making efforts to save for Christmas, this gives them a combined total savings pot of £8.5bn to fund their festive spending.
Many people do not put money aside or budget for Christmas
- More than half (58%) do not put aside any money to help pay for Christmas, and 52% do not set a budget for their Christmas spending.
- More than half (53%) have no buffer for unexpected ‘out of the blue’ expenses they might incur.
- More than one in four (27%) have either overspent or gone into debt over Christmas – rising to 29% of women compared with 25% of men.
- Women are much more likely to budget than men (52% vs 43%). Across all adults who set a budget, the typical limit they give themselves is £384 to cover everything including gifts, food and entertainment.
- A third (35%) always buy too much food, one in ten (12%) always throw food away every Christmas, and 7% admit to living a ‘champagne lifestyle’ for the festive period.
- Among those who have overspent at Christmas, more than half (55%) feel guilty about it, but two in five (43%) say they do not. Of them, 53% say they simply want to give their family the best possible Christmas, but one in six (16%) say they will ‘live for today, think about debt tomorrow’.
- As well as being more likely to overspend, women are significantly more likely to feel guilty about it than men (64% vs. 43%).
- Among those who have overspent, the highest Christmas debt people ever started a New Year with was £414 on average, per person. Rising to £519 for the 45-54 year olds.
Women are much more likely to return or recycle unwanted presents
- While the majority of adults plan to buy presents over Christmas, men are twice as likely as women to say they ‘do not intend to buy anyone any presents this year’ (10% vs. 5%).
- In contrast, women admit to more ‘Christmas confessions’ [table 1] than men, which is likely to be influenced by the fact they are more likely to buy presents in the first place.
- Almost half (47%) of women have reused gift tags, bags or paper, compared to 25% of men.
- More than a third (35%) of people say they use club-card points (such as Nectar or Tesco) to buy presents, rising to 41% of women.
- Almost a fifth (19%) of women have returned a present someone gave them because they didn’t like it, compared with just 12% of men. Women are also far more likely to have recycled unwanted gifts by giving them to someone else (43% vs. 18% men).
Table 1: Christmas Confessions
| All | Men | Women | |
| Reused gift tags, bags, and/or paper | 36% | 25% | 47% |
| Used club card points (such as Nectar or Tesco) to buy presents | 35% | 29% | 41% |
| Bought cards/paper/presents for next year in Boxing Day sales | 34% | 23% | 43% |
| Recycled gifts (passed on unwanted gifts you’ve received to someone else) | 31% | 18% | 43% |
| Bought gifts in sales and then thought about who to give them to | 26% | 16% | 35% |
| Cut out this year’s Christmas cards to use as next year’s tags | 20% | 14% | 27% |
| Returned a present someone gave you because you didn’t like it | 16% | 12% | 19% |
Alistair McQueen, Savings and Retirement Manager at Aviva, comments:
“Christmas is typically an expensive time of the year with presents to buy and a busy calendar of festive events. Plenty of people are careful to plan ahead for this, but it is also clear that many people go into debt as a result of their Christmas spending.
“Putting aside £1 each day for a year would virtually generate the typical Christmas savings pot, as well as avoiding starting the New Year off on the wrong foot by leaving yourself wrestling with extra debt. Setting a budget for Christmas is one simple step to make sure you don’t overspend and can enjoy the festive season without worrying about your finances taking a heavy hit.”
Ends
If you are a journalist and would like further information, please contact:
Aviva Press Office: Fiona Whytock: 01904 452659 or 07800 692 299 or fiona.whytock@aviva.co.uk
Methodology
The research was carried out by ICM Research and includes results from 2,022 over-18s in the UK (excluding Northern Ireland). Unless specified, the average figures quoted are means.
*Based on the latest data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showing that there are 49,501,761 people aged over 18 in the UK (excluding Northern Ireland).
Source: http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/publications/re-reference-tables.html?edition=tcm%3A77-368259
Notes to editors:
- Aviva provides life insurance, general insurance, health insurance and asset management to 34* million customers, across 16 markets worldwide
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- Aviva helps people save for the future and manage the risks of everyday life; we paid out £24.6 billion in benefits and claims in 2014.
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