One-third of Poles plan their expenditures a month ahead of time, and only a small percentage do so more than half a year in advance. Not even occasions like Christmas make us more willing to plan ahead - according to a survey by The Citi Handlowy Leopold Kronenberg Foundation and the THINK! Foundation, only 31% set us aside funds for Christmas in advance.
Poles don't plan bigger expenditures, even if they are for recurring occasions, like the organizing of Christmas activities says Krzysztof Kaczmar, president of The Citi Handlowy Leopold Kronenberg Foundation. The percentage of people who think about their expenditures more than half a year in advance has hovered for years around 5%. We look at the financial side our life in a very shortsighted way and even holidays spent in the wider family circle do not change our daily habits.
Organizing one's Christmas is in fact a good opportunity to make an effort as well as to plan expenditures ahead of time, to save for this purpose and then stick to one's plans. All the more so, given that for 60% of us, Christmas is a time for family, and 89% of us plan to spend this period with more than 3 people. Interestingly, 29% of Poles sit down at the Christmas dining table with at least 10 people. In this situation, it is noteworthy that 73% of us state that we cover our Christmas expenses from current income, and for 53% of those surveyed this amount exceeds 600 zl. Therefore, this is not money that one can easily put aside from one's household budget. In addition, 30% of us admit that they cannot limit their expenditures if they succumb to holiday fever. So, Christmas is a time when we give up being the meticulous accountants that we usually are every day. Let's keep in mind that according to the results of the 9th edition of the survey "Attitudes of Poles towards Finances", only 18% of us don't control their expenditures, while as many as 27% pay attention to even the smallest.
The level of holiday spending is strongly correlated with the age of the respondents. The most lavish Christmases are the domain of people in their 40s - 28% of them allocate over 1200 zl for this goal. On the other hand, the most modest expenditures are planned by those in their 60s, 28% of whom estimate that they do not spend more than 300 zl on Christmas. Based on the experience of previous years, more than half of us (54%) think that Christmas expenditures will not exceed their planned budget, while only 6% believe that they might spend less than what they originally planned. However, those who look for ways to minimize costs buy lower-priced food products (26%) and presents (18%), or don't get presents for all members of the household (24%).
