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By Reno Charlton
News Editor
Christmas spending seems to be a yearly treat for spreadsheet compilers and consumer reporters, and by the time January is almost at a close, many people have lost interest in the percentage of spenders who do this, and the percentage of spenders who did that.
However, while most of these reports generally tend to churn out percentage figures we can all probably guess at, the underlying message is still not to be passed over so casually.
Experts have estimated that on Christmas Eve alone, consumers clocked up over £1.5 million per minute between them on last minute presents and festive supplies.
This has undoubtedly left many cardholders with high balances on their credit cards, with many people dreading their January statements, unsure of quite how much to expect to be outstanding.
According to consumer research by Sainsbury's, it's actually a brighter outlook for spring with over 60% of cardholders planning to pay off their Christmas credit card spending in full by the end of the month.
However, the outlook is not quite as breezy for the other 39% of cardholders who have racked up an outstanding balance on their plastic over the festive season.
Around 15% have stated that it will take them 2 or 3 months to clear the balance on their credit cards, and 1% have estimated that it is likely to take at least one year to clear the balance in full.
Anyone who is currently paying interest on their credit card balance and needing more than a month or two to repay their spending should consider looking at other options to save money in interest charges and ease the financial strain of outstanding debts.
Donald MacLeod from Sainsbury's stated that cardholders in this position "should consider spreading the cost and transferring their balance to a new card that offers zero per cent APR on balance transfers so as to avoid incurring any unnecessary interest."
Unsurprisingly, Sainsbury's financial arm 'Sainsbury's Bank' offer 0% balance transfers for 10 months on their credit card.
However, 0% balance transfers are now available up to 15 months, with Egg and Virgin Money topping the best buy tables. Closely followed by Barclaycard’s Platinum at 14 months, and the RBS Group cards; Mint, RBS and Natwest all at 13 months.
Lyndsey Burton, Director of Credit Card Comparison Online says "Anyone who is able to clear their outstanding card balance by this time next year could potentially save hundreds of pounds of interest, more than on a low-rate for life card, and considerably more on any standard rate credit card – even with the cost of transfer fees included."
“If an outstanding balance is likely to take well over a year to repay, low-rate for life balance transfers can still save dramatic amounts of money by cutting interest charges by more than half. Of course, they also offer the financial relief of under-control debts without the worry or stresses of ending promotional periods.”
Although credit conditions are tighter as a result of the credit crunch people with decent credit histories should still be able to find 0% balance transfer or low rate balance transfer credit cards that will make spreading the repayments on their credit card balance far more affordable.
With the range of balance transfer credit cards on the market, cardholders could really reduce the cost of their Christmas spending spree and ease the financial strain outstanding debts can carry.
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