Kiwis overspend by more than $1000 on Xmas

Kiwis are being urged to start saving for Christmas now to avoid over-spending this year. Photo/Steven McNichol.

If you are still re-covering from a Christmas spending hangover, you may not be alone.

Nearly one in three Kiwis over-spends at Christmas time, splashing out by an average of $1091 more than we planned to, research has found.

Rob Collins, general manager of NZCU Auckland, which carried out the research on its members, said 31 per cent of people it surveyed had confirmed they overspent on Christmas last year.

"The results showed that almost a third of respondents admitted to overspending and when replying to how much, the average overspend was $1091."

Collins said some people couldn't even quantify how much they had overspent with many just making comments like "lots", "too much" or "don't know".

"There was a common thread through the comments which indicated that many people didn't have a plan when they started shopping.

"One of the more telling remarks was 'problem was I didn't plan and then with bills coming in I had to max my credit cards to buy gifts'.

It seems many people are headed towards making the same mistake this year.

Collins said nearly half of respondents were not saving for Christmas 2017.

"We found these results rather sobering," said Collins.

"People acknowledge that they overspent last Christmas and in many cases, put themselves into debt, but then weren't going to do anything to stop it happening again this year."

Collins said the key to breaking the cycle was to have a plan and start saving.

"Work out what you think you will spend on presents and other expenses, then set up your savings."

Collins said even if people didn't know exactly how much they spent, they could save a large chunk which would make things easier.

Just $20 saved a week would add up to over $1000 for the holiday.

He said the credit union had a savings account which locked people's money up until mid-November and then became available until mid-January.