subject: Savings accounts for an extra special Christmas [print this page] Savings accounts for an extra special Christmas
If you're looking to prepare for a special event, a savings account can prove to be particularly handy to have around. This is the case at any time of year, as unexpected expenses can rear their head at any time, forcing you to re-evaluate your financial situation. But one thing that comes around once every 12 months you can prepare for is Christmas.
Every year, millions of people across the UK will look forward to having friends and family around over the festive season, but many will also fall foul of the impact it can have on their personal finances. But with a little forethought you could be putting a bit of cash aside over the course of the year - and an ISA might be the best way to do this. The tax-efficient status of these products mean you may be having a much happier holiday than you think, banishing the ghosts of Christmases past where you struggled to do all the things you'd hoped.
In fact, it might even be that the financial pressure of last years' festivities left you with something of a budgetary hangover over the months that followed. In turn, this might have put a stop to any ideas you had about grabbing a bargain in the January sales. According to a survey conducted by the Post Office earlier this year, around 14 million people in the UK who suffered such post-Christmas misery having not budgeted properly. It added an estimated 29 per cent of shoppers in Britain spent too much on gifts, entertaining and socialising during December. In addition, the study revealed about five million people will have had to increase their debts as a result of this overspending and over a third of those polled admitted January would see them having to make some serious cutbacks. One of the most interesting points raised here is that these compromises were not on lavish purchases or unnecessary luxuries, but areas like food and utilities.
Commenting, Post Office spokesman Michael Birchall said: "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.
With all this in mind, you might want to think very carefully about all the options open to you if you want to revise your financial situation. Whether you choose a standard savings account or opt for an ISA, there are online savings calculator that can help you when it comes to figuring out what you can realistically expect and what kind of interest rates are available.
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