Decade-long Christmas debt epiphany

According to moneysupermarket.com, Britons with a credit card debt could be still making repayments on Christmas spending until July 2017 if they only pay the minimum each month.

Robert Kenley, head of credit cards at the website, urged good debt management in 2007: “To avoid a ten-year Christmas financial hangover, Brits should make some fiscal new year’s resolutions.”

This include looking to transfer any credit card debt to an interest-free offer, which he believes could save many consumers as much as £3,223 in interest payments.

Credit card users will spend an average of £360 on their cards this Christmas, the study found, but many people already have existing credit card debt.

For these people, it would be worth taking out a balance transfer offer as part of a debt management plan, Mr Kenley said, while for those without any existing payments, it would be worth looking at other plastic offers.