At this time of year, with Christmas, New Year, and January sales just around the corner, millions of people are getting set to spend a fortune, and inevitably this means that many people will end up with high levels of debt once the festive season has come to an end. For some people this is not too much of a problem, as many repay the debt that they have accrued within a month or two. However, many others take so long to repay the debt that they have still not repaid it by the time the following Christmas comes around.

According to a recent report millions of people in the UK are still repaying debt that they accrued last Christmas, but will invariably add to this debt with additional spending this year. The figures suggest that around 4.4% of the adult population, which comes to around four million adults, are still making payments on debt that was accrued last Christmas. This means that one in every ten adults is still paying off debt from last Christmas.

The survey involved polling two thousand adults and the report was put together by MoneyExpert.com. One official stated: “It is not time to cancel Christmas, but for millions of us it really is time to cancel some credit cards. We can all give into temptation at Christmas and put it on plastic, but if the debt lingers from year to year you’re starting to get into trouble.”

During this month consumers are expected to be splashing the cash on their credit cards, clocking up debts of around £12 billion. Experts state that based on previous years around 9% of those will repay the balance within 2-5 months. Over 50% will clear the balance in the interest free period. However, many others will carry over the debt to next year.