How Will You Pay For Christmas?
As the British obsession with Christmas looks set to kick in very soon it has emerged that the vast majority of people will be extending overdrafts where possible and pushing their credit cards to the limit. So is this madness or just human nature?
In a normal world many people would look to save up for Christmas gifts for the family etc and maybe top it up with a little bit of debt, but this year things seem to be very different. The vast majority of UK residents have no savings left, some are literally living hand to mouth and times are getting hard, so what can they do?
It seems that record numbers in the UK will be enjoying Christmas knowing that they will struggle to pay back what they have borrowed. The banks are well aware of this and while they are more than happy to make money when you use your card, many people can expect a reminded through the door in the run up to Christmas of even see their credit limits reduced. The banks will not be putting on their Father Christmas outfits this year, more like Scrooge!
You have been warned....
Share this..
Related stories
Mervyn King attacks Prof Blanchflower
Governor of The Bank of England, Mervyn King, has today launched a scathing attack on former MPC member Prof Blanchflower. As we covered in one of our recent posts, Prof Blanchflower was highly critical of Mervyn King's "iron fist" mentality and in fact put himself forward as the person who spotted the UK recession first and realised how deep it could be. However, for an institution which is so se...
Read MoreIs the Bank of England on the verge of a rate cut?
While we have been in this situation before, with many different parties throughout UK demanding interest rate reductions, we actually seem to be hearing the same demand from within the Bank of England. This is a pivotal change in the bank's recent policy and many experts believe a reduction in UK interest rates will happen very soon and possibly over the next seven days.
The fact t...
Merrill Lynch sees overweight position in emerging markets
As worldwide investors look to position themselves to benefit from a forecast recovery in the global economy, Merrill Lynch, the US investment giant, has highlighted a significant shift in strategy towards emerging markets. April saw a significant move with global asset allocators "massively" raising their overweight positions in global emerging markets. This is a very significant move because eme...
Read MoreRate rise delivers double-whammy
Although the quarter point rise in the interest rate will affect those with variable-rate mortgages, an expert from Lloyds TSB warned that it would have a knock-on effect on the economy.Chief economist for Lloyds TSB, Trevor Williams, said that the hike in the rate of borrowing would effectively "take income out of [the] hands" of those with variable mortgages.He predicted that new levels of debt...
Read MoreBDO warns of UK double-dip recession
Accountants and business advisers BDO is warning UK businesses of a potential double dip recession towards the end of 2010 if current economic trends remain in place. The company believes that long-term prospects for the UK have not shown any improvement in the short-term and with BDO's optimism index recently falling to 93.1 in August against 95.5 in July there is real concern for the future. A s...
Read More