Overspent this Christmas? You're not alone

A study by online discount providers myvouchercodes suggests that around half of people with full-time jobs have no disposable income left this January. A fifth of respondents have less than £100 left over for the month once they've paid all their January bills, as reported by The Telegraph.

Over two thirds of the people who took part in the survey were paid early in December. This can be really helpful when you want to pick-up some last minute Christmas presents - but 37% of these people said they weren't happy about being paid early, as it seemed to encourage overspending.

The temptation to overspend when your wages hit your bank account is fairly normal, but that's not the only temptation. Just under a third (31%) of people with no money left over for January spent it on Christmas presents but even more (38%) spent too much money in the January sales. Around a quarter (23%) overspent on socialising.

Only 14% of respondents felt they were "no worse off" than at other times of the year.

Despite having to tighten our belts after Christmas, many of us are happy to do so because it's 'only once a year'. In fact the majority of respondents in this survey (nearly two-thirds) said they had no regrets about spending all their money.

A spokesperson for debt management company Gregory Pennington commented: "January is a difficult month financially for many families. However, if every month you find you have no disposable income left over, it's time to get debt advice. A debt expert could help you."

Lucy Bower