Lending Stream finds Britons planning for a very thrifty Christmas

Dec. 13, 2011 - PRLog -- It’s no great surprise that Christmas is one of the most expensive times of the year. We’re bombarded with advertising everywhere we look, and we feel obliged to splash out on gifts for friends, family and sometimes co-workers while facing the expenses that come with celebrating the season to be merry.

This view seems to be supported by the majority of recent surveys that have been carried out with UK consumers.  Retail research group Decipher forecast retail spending will fall 0.6 per cent year-on-year in December, or by about 200 million pounds, with a 1.4 per cent rise in food sales offset by a 2.2 per cent drop in spending on general merchandise products, particularly electrical goods. Decipher also point out that the average household has seen disposable income slip by 2.1 per cent over the past year, and they believe that this will simply feed into lower overall spending.

Meanwhile, a recent poll by the Sunday Mirror and ComRes finds 61 per cent of respondents intend to cut their Christmas spending, with only 26 per cent intending to fork out the same or more than they did in 2010, and 13 per cent unsure what they’ll be spending. This news is likely to come as a blow to shops says The Mirror, with retailers having been hoping for a Christmas spending spree after a slow year on the High Street.

With the more frugal outlook, Lending Stream has come up with some top seasonal tips to help you keep an eye on your Christmas spending:

1. Set a budget – not only for your gift buying, but for all Christmas expenses – it’s all to easy to throw caution to the wind during the celebration season, only to wake up to a horrendous financial hangover in the new year.

2. Plan your presents – it’s worth taking the time to sit down, decide what you intend to buy for who, and writing a good old fashioned Christmas list. Then go online to shop around to see if bargains can be found. Regardless of what gift you have in mind, there are normally bargains to be found if you look hard enough.

3. Get creative – Rather than buying expensive wrapping paper and cards, why not take the opportunity to get creative and design your own? It’s not only a great way to get your creative juices flowing, but can be great fun for all the family. And if you still have last year’s Christmas cards, why not recycle them, or even better, save on postage by sending e-cards.

4. Consider second hand – You can find some fantastic bargains by looking at second hand outlets, be it on auction websites such as eBay, or in your local charity shop – avoid expensive boutiques and think vintage!

5. Get paid to shop – there are an increasing number of cashback sites that pay a percentage of your shopping back to their customer, listing retailers that pay commission when shoppers click through to them. Examples include topcashback.com, quidco.com and greasypalm.co.uk.

6. Be clever with your credit - Shop around for the best credit card or financing deal – if you’re using a credit card, it’s worth checking if there are any 0% APR deals available. And as an alternative to traditional payday loans, consider a short term loan from Lending Stream that is more manageable since the repayments are made in much smaller easy instalments over a longer period of time.

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Lending Stream is an online lender formed with a single mission: to make payday lending more straightforward and understandable for consumers. We offer emergency cash loans with the additional benefits of convenience, quick approval, world-class customer service and a genuine understanding of how important an emergency loan may be to you. No faxes. No stringent loan requirements. And no frustratingly long waiting times. Lending Stream is registered with the Information Commissioner's Office (Data Protection No: Z1451218) and hold a Consumer Credit License (0620194). We are registered in England (No. 6648787).