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People are coming under increasing pressure to have lots more “stuff” than ever before. There’s so much to tempt us including gadgets, new cars and fancy exotic holidays. When I was at school (I’m 25 so it wasn’t that long ago) nobody had mobile phones. Now I see young children walking down the street chatting to their friends on them.

As I walk round the shops and see the amount of Christmas gifts being sold I can’t help but worry for people who think they need to spend huge amount of money each year. It’s all so unnecessary, kids even admit that they don’t like a lot of what they receive. I can remember receiving more than I knew what to do with!

My family got so fed up of the commercialisation of Christmas that a few years ago we changed the way we bought gifts for each other. We spend £3 on a “secret Santa” gift which is uni-sex. Then we spend £6 on a specific person (chosen at random). It means that not only do we save a lot of money but we also have to put more time, effort and thought into the gifts we buy.

If you are going to spend a lot of money make sure that you can afford it. The lack of money can seriously affect our health. What would you prefer, lots of shiny new toys or the bailiffs knocking at your door?

Read this Press Release from Save Buckets for more info on saving money at Christmas.

GHOST OF CHRISTMAS PAST HAUNTS INDEBTED BRITS

– New price saving site launches to save Brits up to 20% this Christmas –

As the nation approaches the final countdown to Christmas, new research rings alarm bells over the financial impact of Christmas in credit crunch Britain. The research from the new money saving website Savebuckets.com reveals that as Brits prepare for Christmas, many are still paying off last year’s festive spending.

With 41 per cent of Britons paying for Christmas on credit last year, almost one in five are still paying for last year’s festivities (17%), fewer than one in three having cleared their Christmas debts when their January credit card bill arrived (29%).

Following a year of consumer confidence in 2006, Christmas spending soared 52 per cent in two years (from an average £548 per adult in 2004* to £837 per adult in 2006), with over one in five Brits spending over £1,000 on Christmas last year (22%). This year, with spending power at its lowest level for 10 years**, consumers are feeling the financial hangover from a more confident Christmas enjoyed on the credit card and loans.

Alarmingly, it is cash strapped youngsters and low income earners who, having spent the most on last Christmas, are most likely to be feeling the repercussions of last year’s spending spree (see figures below).

The research into the financial impacts of last Christmas amongst a GB representative sample of 2,000 British adults was carried out by the new money savings website Savebuckets.com which launches this week to enable Brits to get more for their money this Christmas.

With these alarming figures in mind, Savebuckets.com will give shoppers the opportunity to save up to 20% on their Christmas shopping. Putting consumers back in control of their spending, the site searches over 700 retailers for the best price on around one million products. The site includes a unique price checker which allows consumers to set the price they want to pay for items, notifying them when the price of a product falls to within their budget.