Brits start saving for Christmas now
A significant proportion of the population will save up all year round for Christmas this year, according to new research.
Britannia Building Society found that a finance-savvy ten per cent of the UK's adults are already saving up money to go towards their Christmas spending – something that cost on average £718.90 per head last year.
Around 29 per cent of regular savers have cited Christmas as one of the main reasons for having a savings account, and they will find their spending pot for 2006's festive season swelled by the interest their savings garner.
Neville Richardson, chief executive of Britannia, said: 'We do not really have a culture of saving in the UK these days but those who do, really reap the benefits of being organised with their money.
'The people who choose to save for big purchases such as Christmas, holidays, and home improvements can add hundreds of pounds in interest to their own contributions by saving in advance.'
Unfortunately, a greater proportion of people do not pay for Christmas out of carefully made savings, but through credit, with 37 per cent of Britannia's respondents admitting to doing this.
Given that seven per cent of the population spent £2,000 or more this Christmas, Mr Richardson's suggestion that 'if people can get back into the habit of regularly putting money away for big purchases they can earn rather than pay interest' seems very pertinent indeed. | 
