Christmas over Mortgage

rita7uk

I work in a customer contact center for one of the mortgage lenders and I am soo surprised at some people...People are coming to us saying they will be struggling to make payments in December because of christmas. Shouldn't they have been budgeting for this? Is christmas more important than keeping a roof over their head? Even in this "credit crunch" how can people think its ok not to pay one months mortgage payment...I just needed to get this off my chest. Thanks for reading.

I'll be interested to know what some people think on this forum..whether celebrating christmas is more important than making mortgage payments.
I think I know what most of you would say but people sometimes really surprise me.

tiff

Its not that Christmas is more important, its probably more to do with living beyond their means year round, spending more than they can afford on Christmas presents and not budgeting. Combine that with a reduction in wages or redundancy and lots of people are really struggling.

People dont think its ok to not pay one months mortgage payment, but mortgage companies do allow payment holidays in certain circumstances so it is obviously expected that people want to do this at times.

richardginger

My brother has 10 children, he has never worked a day in his life, he is on every benefit available, the council provide him with a marvelous house, he can afford cigarettes, beer and takeaways all week and he is recently boasting that he has just saved up enough to buy all the kids new bikes for Christmas! Me, I struggle all year to get by and the number one priortity is to pay the mortgage. If paying the mortgage means the kids go without at Christmas, I think the kids will learn a good lesson for the future. It just amazes me that people go on about Christmas, how expensive it is and how they can't afford it. Keeping the roof over your head is the number one priority and will always be for me.

opinions4u

rita7uk wrote: »

I work in a customer contact center for one of the mortgage lenders and I am soo surprised at some people...People are coming to us saying they will be struggling to make payments in December because of christmas. Shouldn't they have been budgeting for this?

Yes, they should.

To be honest, people should now be thinking about how to pay for Christmas 2010. A Barclays Monthly Saver account taken out now will mature a month or so before the big day.

Christmas is a time for cashing in the Nectar Card / Clubcard points!

Is christmas more important than keeping a roof over their head? Even in this "credit crunch" how can people think its ok not to pay one months mortgage payment

Some think it's better to disappoint a faceless bank than a young family. But good planning can, in most cases, mean that Christmas and mortgage can be paid for.

I'll be interested to know what some people think on this forum..whether celebrating christmas is more important than making mortgage payments.

Both are important. The two are not mutually exclusive. You can have a good family Christmas without spending a fortune and you should pay your mortgage.

I'll never forget spending money I shouldn't have on a child's Christmas pressie - it was that year's must have gift (forgotten want) and we broke the bank to get it.

Christmas Day came, and our little bundle of joy opened his pressies. The expensive one was met with indifference and then never played with. The 50p packet of plastic soldiers from the market were played with for years after.

It's the joy a gift brings that counts. Not the bill.

If you're genuinely skint this Christmas, sit down as a family now and work out how to make Christmas great without spending a fortune.

Rikki

For me my mortgage take priority over Christmas presents.
I'd rather we all had some where to live rather than a nice new present and no where to plug it in.

skiTTish

Shouldn't it be the other way around ?
'We are struggling to do Christmas because of the mortgage' ?
What kind of idiot would put one fluffing day of over hyped crap before their roof over their head ?!?

skiTTish

opinions4u wrote: »

Yes, they should.

To be honest, people should now be thinking about how to pay for Christmas 2010. A Barclays Monthly Saver account taken out now will mature a month or so before the big day.

.

Jeesus !!!
Sorry ,cant agree with that ,I am barely even thinking about this Christmas yet ,yet along next ?
Come on ,its one day and unless you are religious (which costs nothing anyway)Its not that important that you need to plan a whole year in advance for it ,has the world gone mad?!
It is one day !!
If you cannot afford it ,dont get it ,but certainly dont plan your whole year around it ?

PasturesNew

Just £2/week, totalling £100/year, would make for a great Christmas for most people ... if only they weren't so greedy, feeling hard done by if they can't spend £100 on booze, £200 on food and £300/child on plastic tat that'll be discarded by Boxing Day and broken by New Year's Eve.

Comyface

skiTTish wrote: »

Jeesus !!!
Sorry ,cant agree with that ,I am barely even thinking about this Christmas yet ,yet along next ?
Come on ,its one day and unless you are religious (which costs nothing anyway)Its not that important that you need to plan a whole year in advance for it ,has the world gone mad?!
It is one day !!
If you cannot afford it ,dont get it ,but certainly dont plan your whole year around it ?

I do agree with O4U, tbh.

This time last year I was disappointed in how much money I had available for Christmas (because I used it to pay my mortgage, lol) so I decided that Christmas 2009 would be better and set up a Halifax monthly saver for £25/mth. I'll now have my £300 on 28/11. I didn't plan my whole year around it, took 25 mins (if that) to open the account online and set up the standing order. I'm pleased I did it, and will carry on for the forseeable.

Edit: Was it a regular saver, not a monthly saver? The one that empties into a different account at the end of the year. Anyway, you know what I mean!

opinions4u

skiTTish wrote: »

Come on ,its one day and unless you are religious (which costs nothing anyway)Its not that important that you need to plan a whole year in advance for it ,has the world gone mad?!

I think my point stands.

A couple may attend 2 work events - 4 x £50.
They may spend an extra £100 on food over the festive period.
And pressies for each little angel at £150 each x 3.

There's £750 of additional expenditure in December.

The OP was effectively saying her callers claim "I can only afford Christmas, not my mortgage payment".

I was highlighting how they could budget to afford both.

It is not uncommon for people to save for Christmas. People contribute in to Christmas clubs to pay for the works party. People save with hamper companies (who were outside the FSCS last I heard). People fill a whisky bottle with loose change every week.

Much better to save for it than get to December and choose to miss a mortgage payment for it.

Joe_Bloggs

I agree with opinions4u.

You can save for Christmas by saving ahead and earning interest or by paying for it with credit, up to next Christmas, thus paying interest and risking possible bank charges.


There is a £150 per employee limit that can be spent on annual morale boosting festivities that can be claimed back from the tax paid to HMRC.
J_B.