COVID is to take a bite out of Christmas as almost half of Scots cut their festive spending, new figures show.
Despite the planned reduction, 16% of the population is set to pay for Christmas by taking on debt. Citizens Advice Scotland (CAS) fears many more may end up doing so and is urging people not to save up cash problems for the new year.
The figures come from its own polling, carried out by YouGov, and are released after the Black Friday discount day and ahead of its follow-up, Cyber Monday. Sarah-Jayne Dunn of CAS said: “Almost half of people in Scotland plan to spend less this year, a sign of the financial impact Covid has had on household budgets.
“Given the year we’ve had it’s understandable if people feel the need to over-spend to make up for what has been a miserable year for many. But we really want to urge people not to fall into that trap. A new year drowning in debt is just going to make things even worse.”
For free help from CAS, visit www.moneymap.scot.
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