Post Office personal loans paying for Christmas

Nearly one in five Brits don't know how they will pay for Christmas or already expect to overspend, possibly using a loan or a credit card, a new survey by Post Office Loans has revealed.

The survey into people's Christmas planning revealed that whilst the majority of us are practical when it comes to budgeting for Christmas, there remains a significant minority who are not.

Mike Smith, head of marketing at the Post Office, believes it is important to borrow sensibly when it comes to Christmas time.

"Christmas time can be an expensive time for most of us and we usually end out splashing out more than we intended.

"It's important to borrow sensibly and consider options such as being able to take monthly payment holidays and a loan where there are no early repayment penalty charges."

The survey also found that only four million Brits say their parents are the people they spend the most on at Christmas time.

But whilst parents look likely to get a raw deal, our partners are set to be spoiled, with over 20 million Britons (47 per cent) saying that this is who they spend the most on when it comes to Christmas.

However the element of surprise is no longer there. 7.5 million of us (17 per cent) admit that we already know what our main present will be, with one in five of us knowing it will be cash.