One and a half million households won't be able to afford Christmas

Christmas is going to be tough for lots of families this year. We highlight a tool that could help.

1.5 million households say that they won’t be able to afford Christmas this year, according to a survey by Legal & General. What’s more, 31% of households say they will spend less on Christmas this year while around half expect to restrict their spending to no more than last year.

Good news or bad news?

You could argue these figures are good news because they suggest that more families are managing their  finances in a prudent manner.  On the other hand, it’s very sad if some families can’t afford any Christmas treats whatsoever.

If you’re wondering how to find some extra cash to spend this Christmas, we urge you to start budgeting. Or if you already have a household budget, maybe you could do it better.

After all, it’s easy to set yourself budget targets. The hard part is hitting those targets day-after-day, week-after-week and month-after-month.

We think our budgeting tool – MoneyTrack – could help you do that. All your online bank accounts and credit cards are aggregated in one place, so you can see exactly how much money is coming in every day and how much is going out.

What’s more, you can track your success against your individual budgeting targets. Check it out now.

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