Poorest day of 2007 is January 17th, says uSwitch

According to uSwitch, because many people received December’s pay before Christmas rather than in the final week, some households will have no choice but to default on their mortgage, council tax and household bills due to a lack of funds.

Nearly three in ten households said it takes between two and three months to financially recover from January, which means more people in the first quarter of the year are likely to seek advice on becoming debt free.

Director of personal finance Nick White said: “The impact of the January financial blues is not restricted to the poorest families.

“With Britain’s personal debt levels increasing by £1 million every four minutes, it is clear that consumers need to take some personal responsibility and carefully manage their own financial situation.”

A recent poll by Alliance & Leicester found that nine per cent of respondents said they are thinking of taking out a low-rate unsecured loan in order to tackle their new year debts.