Bad credit credit cards: Consumers should monitor Christmas spending

Consumers, including bad credit credit card customers, should carefully consider their Christmas spending in order to avoid accruing excessive debt, an expert has warned.

Joanna Parsley, associate director of Credit Action, said that the latest debt figures are worrying and indicate that people need to be careful about how they spend their cash in the next few weeks.

Ms Parsley said: "Christmas is always an expensive time, when spending can quickly escalate However, these figures from moneysupermarket.com a real concern as 47 per cent of the UK population look likely to start 2011 with debts carried over from 2010."

She suggested writing a list of all of the items that you will be buying over the festive period and see where savings can be made.

Consumers should also search for the best deals available if they do have to resort to using credit to cover their costs, Ms Parsley added.

According to recent research by ConsumerIntelligence.com, more than 2.3 million adults are still paying off debts that they built last Christmas, on accounts such as bad credit credit cards.