CREDIT CARDS

A quarter of Brits expect year-long credit card debt

Over a quarter of Brits are expecting to have credit card debt throughout the whole of 2012, with nearly one in ten relying on them to make ends meet.

That is the finding of research from comparison website GoCompare, which has revealed that high bills and the rising cost of living are forcing Brits to rely on their credit cards.

The research found that 26% of people have resigned themselves to the fact that they will have credit card debt for the whole of 2012, while 9% admit that they rely on their credit cards simply to make ends meet.

“The rising cost of living is placing a strain on many families and credit cards are being used to temporarily ease the pain,” said Jeremy Cryer, Head of credit cards at Gocompare.

“If used carefully, plastic cards can be a useful budgeting tool, but when used to plug a gap in everyday spending, card debt can quickly spiral out of control.”

When asked where they felt they could make savings to try and reduce their debt, the majority of Brits said that spending on essential items could be altered.

It was found that 49% of people would be cutting back on food shopping, while 31% plan to cut back on their petrol and transport costs.

Other planned cut backs include spending on mobile phones, TV/internet bills and gas/electricity use.

“Worryingly, our survey revealed that nearly a tenth of people in the UK rely on their credit cards to make ends meet. No wonder we owe a staggering £60 billion on credit cards as a nation,” added Mr Cryer.

“It is clear from our research that a huge number of people are already expecting 2012 to be a ‘year of debt' so it's important that they take action now, rather than allowing interest to add to their financial burden.”

Tags: cost of living, credit card debt, CREDIT CARDS, rising living costs