By Paula Fischer-Fodor, Alexandra Flores, Seham Al Amshan
With the current economic uncertainty, the Christmas holiday seems to be in jeopardy this year. Residents of Holloway Road have voiced their concerns regarding budgets for Christmas.
“I think my budget will decrease this year. The salary has not gone up so I will have to put myself first and set my priorities straight. As opposed to buying presents for everyone in the family, I will pick up the budget for my nieces,” said Alex De Sintat, 28, receptionist at London Metropolitan University Science Centre.
Considering that inflation is a big concern, people will recalculate their budgets and rethink the number of gift recipients, according to Joan Verdon, Senior Contributor for Forbes.
“My husband will take care of the presents this year. I have four children so the older ones will get something small and symbolic, whereas the little ones are looking forward to Christmas, so we’ll have to put more thought into theirs. We will have a smaller budget than previous years,” said Nadia Gordon, 36, Human Nutrition student at London Metropolitan University.
A recent YouGov survey on Christmas spending attitudes, 60% of people in the UK are planning to spend less on Christmas this year, according to Marina Leiva, blogger for Investment Monitor.
“I’m Muslim so I don’t celebrate Christmas. But I am friends with a family, so I buy presents for their kids. My budget is around £200, and I don’t think it will be affected by the cost-of-living crisis,” said Mohammad Omar, 46, self-employed.
Families have been trying to save up for Christmas by making cutbacks on wherever they could, with 24% selling personal belongings on online marketplaces such as eBay. Seventeen percent have also cancelled their subscriptions with streaming services such as Netflix or Amazon Prime, according to Catherine Furze, Consumer Reporter for Chronicle Live.
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