UK settling for a tight Christmas

THE proportion of people planning to splash out this Christmas has shrunk sharply compared with last year, research suggests.

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On average, households expect to spend £596, down from £774 last year, Yorkshire Building Society found.

The proportion planning to spend more than £1,000 has plummeted to 15%, down from just over half (51%) last year.

More than half (55%) of people in the latest survey said they felt stressed about their finances and nearly a quarter (24%) plan to use a credit card to cover the cost.

Among those borrowing, expectations around when they will clear their debt vary widely.