subject: Get your savings account working for Christmas [print this page] Get your savings account working for Christmas
A savings account can prove to be handy to have around at any time of the year - and this is especially the case when unexpected expenses rear their head and force you to re-evaluate your finances. Things can often get a little tight around family celebrations - and perhaps the biggest one of these is Christmas.
Despite the regularity with which the season can impact on personal finances, often people still fail to prepare for it. You could find putting a bit of cash away in an ISA over the course of the year is a great way to make sure that when the season does arrive, you are well prepared. In the past, you may have been unable to have the kind of happy holiday you wanted and had to settle for a more disappointing time. For others, overspending due to the financial pressure Christmas brings might have left you with a budgetary hangover that took some months to cure.
The Post Office published a study earlier in the year that showed there were around 14 million people in the UK who had suffered post-Christmas misery at the start of 2010 as they had not budgeted properly for it. It was revealed an estimated 29 per cent of shoppers across the nation spent too much on gifts, as well as entertaining and socializing over the course of the month. The research also showed about five million people had to increase their debts over the period and over a third of those polled said that during January they would need to make serious cutbacks as a result. Interestingly, these budgetary compromises came in pretty important areas such as food and utilities.
Post Office spokesman Michael Birchall said this was a sign that people needed to look ahead. "Although Christmas 2009 may already feel like a distant memory to many, for millions of people debt and financial worries will be a constant reminder in the months and even years to come now really is the time to consider saving," he added.
Keeping this in mind, it's clear that it's never too late to learn from these types of mistakes and thinking very carefully about the numerous options available to you is part of this. If you do think you'll need to have a little extra cash set aside in December, why not consider a cash ISA as one way to make tax-efficient savings. If not, you could find a decent savings account with a competitive rate of interest gives you just what you need. As you see your regular payments mount up, you might go on to set longer-term targets, or you could just use the money to pick up a bargain in the January sales.
