Articles > Costly Christmas

With the festive season just around the corner, those of us who are organised with such things are probably planning what gifts and treats to buy for the Christmas period, if not pounding the shopping centres already and getting everything ready. For the more disorganised things may be a bit more last minute and rushed, however whichever approach you take it will be an expensive time.

Unless you have had the foresight to plan and save up then you may well need to borrow money in order to cover the costs, there are two main ways in which people will do this. The most popular is unfortunately the most expensive, and that is to ‘put it on the plastic’ – using a credit card is the most convenient way to get access to the money needed. This convenience comes at a price, as credit cards carry high rates of interest, and unless you will be able to clear the debt quickly then you will be paying a lot for your credit.

A better approach to take if you do need to borrow money is to arrange a personal loan, this may be a little more effort but it could save you a significant amount of money. A pre-arranged loan will be at a far lower rate of interest than the rates offered by credit and store cards, and the process of taking out a loan also makes you aware of the money you are going to have to repay – credit cards make it all too easy for your spending to run away with you.

Planning ahead is the best approach to take, but if you do find yourself with a large credit card bill for the new year, then it’s not too late to take advantage of a personal loan. Moving your credit card balance to a consolidation loan will see you benefit from the lower interest rates and so save you money.