How to avoid falling into a lending trap this festive season

The Christmas season is well upon us, and the temptation to spend like mad can grip even the most frugal Brit, but here’s how to resist temptation.

It’s only natural to feel a strong urge to join in the celebration as the festive season barrels down upon us in full steam, especially as the Christmas music bombards you from seemingly every angle whenever you step outside your home. It’s almost as if it triggers this hard-wired societal need to spend: spend on gifts for friends and loved ones, spend on the things you need to host your family for Christmas dinner, or just spend on a night out with the mates down at the pub to ring in some Christmas cheer, but in the end you shouldn’t spend any money you can’t afford to spend.

don’t scratch that itch

With the current economic situation being what it is, there are many individuals in the UK suffering from cash flow problems due to lost or reduced wages. Unemployment and underemployment is a serious problem even now, years after the credit crisis that led to the global economic downturn, and as the cost of living keeps increasing steadily nearly all of us have had to make do with less and less as the price of nearly everything keeps creeping upwards.

This is why it’s so important to live within your means during the Christmas season, despite the massive pressure to spend money like mad and instead embrace the need to pay for necessities such as food and utilities before going shopping for gifts. Even more important is to resist the temptation of taking out payday advance lending this month in order to finance your festive season spending, especially since the cost of repaying these short term loans can leave you in serious financial difficulties if you’re already struggling to make ends meet.

stay away from credit cards, too

If you’re one of those lucky few that haven’t maxed out their credit card balances yet this month, do yourself a favour and leave them at home if you do plan on going Christmas shopping. Credit card debt is nearly as bad as payday loan debt when used during the festive season, and while the interest rates on credit card lending is much, much more affordable than those charged by payday lenders – industry leader Wonga charges 4,212 per cent on its loans alone – the typical credit limit on a credit card is usually much higher than the limit on a payday loan, which means you could be stuck with just as massive a bill in the long run.

The key here is simply not to overspend and to resolving to stick to a reasonable budget before ever stepping foot out of the house. You can easily make it through this festive season without accumulating a massive hangover-sized debt headache waiting for you in the New Year if you simply do your best to not let it happen.

Image: christmas in austin by pixajen