Cost of living: 'I'm having a microwave Christmas lunch'

Kristie is not the only person planning to spend less this festive season, but she is so worried about her finances she even expects to have a microwave meal for Christmas lunch.

The mother-of-one, who wanted to remain anonymous, told the BBC she couldn't afford to use her cooker at the moment.

A BBC survey shows three in five people in the UK will cut back this Christmas due to cost-of-living concerns.

It comes as inflation is at a 40-year high, with prices up 10.1% in a year.

Food prices drove the latest rise in living costs in September, along with soaring energy bills and transport costs.

Kristie, who is from Somerset, said that last year she and her son had a proper Christmas lunch with turkey, ham and vegetables. But this year she doesn't plan to use her oven because her electricity bills are so high.

"I can't afford to put on the cooker - I'm using the microwave. So how am I going to cook Christmas dinner for me and my son?" she told the BBC.

"You're better off getting a takeaway Indian meal from Tesco and sticking that in the microwave."

Her plans for presents are also being scaled back, due to rising living costs.

"My son has made a pact with me that this year we're going to get a stocking each and stocking fillers, because we can't afford anything else," she says.

Cutting back

A Savanta Comres survey for the BBC of 4,132 people revealed adults with a household income under £40,000 were more likely to say their plans will be much smaller this year.

Just 3% of those polled said their Christmases will be bigger than last year.

The survey was conducted earlier this month before Chancellor Jeremy Hunt reversed some tax cuts, saying that support on energy bills would be limited for some, and warned of further government spending cuts.

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People's plans for Christmas have already been impacted for two years in a row due to the pandemic.

In December 2020, there were strict restrictions on household mixing due to a surge in coronavirus.

The following year, the emergence of the Omicron variant did not lead to restrictions being placed on hospitality, but businesses said customer confidence in eating and drinking out took a hit, with a flurry of cancellations and scaled-back celebrations in the run-up to December 25.

For many retail and hospitality firms, this is their main money-making period of the year, and they will have been hoping for a return to normality.

Young adults aged between 25-34 are significantly more likely to say their spending plans will be smaller than usual this year compared with those in other age groups.

Almost three quarters of people in that age group say their Christmas spending will be on a smaller scale.

However, people are not necessarily putting money away for the big day, with most (55%) respondents saying they have not been saving money ahead of Christmas.

The two in five respondents who have put money aside mainly plan to spend it on presents and food and drink, with fewer people saving for travel and social events, such as parties and nights out.

Energy and food costs have been soaring, fuelled further by the war in Ukraine

The cost of living rose by 10.1% in the 12 months to September - the fastest rate in 40 years - driven by sharp price rises in energy and food costs.

Food and energy prices have been going up around the world following Russia's invasion of Ukraine which has disrupted production and exports, as well as pushing up prices at supermarket tills.

A spokesman for the Treasury said the government had reversed the rise in National Insurance and made changes to help people on universal credit.

"Countries around the world are facing rising costs, driven by Putin's illegal war in Ukraine, and we know this is affecting people here in the UK," he said.

"That is why we have taken decisive actions to hold down bills this winter through the Energy Price Guarantee and provided at least £1,200 of additional cost-of-living support to eight million of the most vulnerable households."