25% save all year to fund Christmas outlay

More than a quarter of consumers have been saving all year to fund their Christmas expenses, figures from KBC Bank Ireland show.

The bank’s latest savings barometer also shows that reliance on credit cards for funding Christmas is deteriorating, with nearly 60% of adults set to use their salary or current account for festive spending, and just 7% set to put it on their cards. That latter percentage is down from 10% last year.

Roughly 50% of consumers are saving a set amount on a regular basis, while 60% have either maintained or increased their savings levels over the past six months.

The survey — conducted for KBC by Millward Brown — shows that 75% of adults have a savings account and over 50% are saving regularly.

This and the seemingly sensible approach to Christmas spending — 54% saying they will spend the same amount as last year, 22% likely to spend a little less, 13% a little more and 8% a lot less — has been welcomed by KBC’s retail banking head, Dara Deering.

“The latest barometer indicates a sensible approach to how consumers plan to finance their Christmas spending, with over one-in-four saving all year for the festive season and many using their salary to fund their expenses. Interestingly over half of consumers are planning to spend the same amount as last year.”