People who are planning to put their Christmas shopping on a store credit card are in for a "rude shock" this year, according to one expert.
David Kuo, head of personal finance at money website Fool.co.uk, explained that such credit cards will be much harder to get this year as lending criteria are tightened.
People who already have one could be in for even more of a surprise as the interest rates on store credit cards have increased markedly.
"If you are thinking about putting things on store cards then you are going to be in for a very rude shock this Christmas," Mr Kuo said.
People looking to meet the cost of the festive period should make sure that they put money aside if they have not started to do so already, he added.
Research by Birmingham Midshires found that 78 per cent of people have taken steps to make Christmas more affordable this year, with the average budget falling by £102.
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