Christmas is a unique, but demanding time - especially financially. The results of the "Poles' Attitudes Towards Saving" survey carried out by the Citi Handlowy Foundation and the THINK! Foundation show that the majority of us usually go beyond the planned Christmas budget. The zero waste trend is gaining in popularity - almost half of us are trying to reduce food waste. Even though charity is associated with Christmas for two thirds of Poles, up to 37 percent of us will not take part in any charity actions this Christmas.
Christmas - financial roller-coaster
The "Poles' Attitudes Towards Saving" survey shows that we still have a problem with planning, although it is the first step towards reaching a financial balance. Only every fourth person plans their expenses 6 months ahead - the same number of people include Christmas in their budgets. In turn, up to 73 percent of us declare that Christmas expenses exceeded their expectations, which means that it will be necessary to tighten the belt in the subsequent months. Interestingly enough, expenses during a Christmas period are the most problematic for respondents aged 25 - 39 - only every fifth stays within the budget.
Apart from planning, spending control poses another challenge. Nearly a half of us claim that they control only higher expenses, like those connected with a renovation. Meanwhile, every third person underlines that they closely watch all the expenses, but this does not translate into savings.
As compared to the EU countries, we are at the tail end. The savings rate of Polish households totals 2.6 percent against the EU average of 11 percent. "Unfortunately, without a good plan and set goals, it is hard to make it happen", says Maciej Pietraszkiewicz, CFA at Citi Handlowy.
Social conscience is growing, but there are no actions
TDoes a statistical Pole, absorbed in buying Christmas gifts, still have time to help others? It seems that also here not everything goes the way we would like it to go. Although up to 33 percent of people plan to donate their clothes, toys and other redundant house appliances, 20 percent of people will join the action of preparing Christmas parcels and 18 percent will donate funds for specific purposes, still up to 37 percent of people do not plan any charity activities during Christmas. Only 8 percent will engage in volunteering.
At our bank, like every year, Christmas is for sharing. We will pack over 2000 parcels for nursing homes, senior care homes, veterans and people with disabilities. I am glad that our volunteers will also be actively helping during this period. This year there are more than 4200 of us - we share our time, work and knowledge with those in need, says Sławomir S. Sikora, the President of the Management Board of Citi Handlowy.
According to the survey, the increase of environmental awareness among Poles is a good prognostic, although still plenty of things could be improved in this field. Nearly half of Poles will make shopping well in advance in order to avoid food waste. Up to 38 percent try to use food surpluses somehow, e.g. share it with those in need. Every fifth Pole buys a Christmas tree fit for replanting (33 percent in the group aged 25 - 29). However, only 11 percent choose eco-friendly gifts and expect to receive the same. Importantly, only 9 percent declare that they do not consider environment and men constitute the majority in this group.
The survey was carried within the "Week for Saving - an Entrepreneurship Development Program" run by the THINK! Foundation with the substantive support of Citi Handlowy Foundation, co-financed from the Citi Foundation fund.
The report with the "Poles' Attitudes Towards Saving" survey results can be found on the Citi Handlowy Foundation website here>>
