There may be a little less food on the table and presents under the tree this Christmas as living costs go up.
From September this year, people in the UK noticed that their bills and food shop totals cost a lot more than previous years.
After fuel prices began to drop from the previous months of a rapid rise in pence per litre, people hoped the nation would go back to the norm. But shortly after, living costs and food prices showed the fastest rate of price increase in 40 years and only continue to rise.
With this balanced in the books, the concern that people could be forced to have a smaller or limited Christmas lingers.
The BBC created the Savanta Comres Survey to discover how many families will be affected by the rising costs.
From this survey, only 3% said they plan to have a bigger Christmas than last year, leaving the remaining 97% showing their worries and concerns over potentially having to limit their festive holiday.
Mrs June Griffiths and her husband are part of the group, within the UK, that are concerned about their Christmas spending this year.
She says: “My shopping has increased significantly” and she’s already “started adding odd bits to [her] shop to have nummy [SIC] bits over Christmas.”
Mrs Griffiths continues: “I would hate to see the total cost of it all in one go. It would probably make me cry.”
“We’ve been using the oven less” but when asked about their plans for cooking Christmas dinner for their large family, she replies: “I never really thought about it like that but now I think it would be quite shocking.”
However, the family have tried to come up with alternative methods to cook their Christmas products to supply for all the family coming to visit for the festive holiday.
She says: “My husband has said that the turkey will be going on the BBQ and things like roasties will definitely be in the air fryer.” She continues: “I hope that supermarkets make some food stuff in smaller quantities, like mini turkeys, especially for those whose Christmas will be for just them.”
However, Christmas is not just about the food and there’s another huge aspect of the festive holiday that could be affected by the rise in living costs.
Christmas lights are a Christmas tradition to emphasis the joys and the celebration of the holiday.
Lighting up the streets brings communities together and potentially make those who will be spending Christmas alone feel part of a wider, communal family.
But with the rise in electricity bills, the lights that help bring that community together in celebration could be forced to come to an end.
Mrs Griffiths says: “We use battery operated lights outside which will be much cheaper.” She continues: “I do think though, across the UK, there will be a lot of people cutting back on them – especially those that have the huge light displays up.”
When asked, majority of people do believe that their decisions around Christmas lights will be affected this year.
Ian Williams says: “Fewer lights this year and all LED to conserve energy.”
Similarly, Geri James says: “No outdoor lights this year, only battery ones.”
Some have decided to scrap Christmas completely because of the cost and, instead, are going away over the Christmas holiday.
Hazel Parsons highly recommends the alternative of going overseas for Christmas holidays to avoid spending so much.
Mrs Parsons says that going away means “we don’t have to spend extra on food shopping, buying turkeys etc.” She continues: “Going away means no presents so no extra cost as my children are grown up.”
It is a clear there is going to be a distinct difference in people’s festive spirits this year, from both the indoor celebrations of meals and family gatherings, and the outdoor personal creativity of Christmas light displays, with many hoping that the rising costs come to a stop soon.
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