Blue Monday 'arrives after Christmas spending'

People all over the UK are counting the cost of their Christmas expenditure and planning how to manage their debts from the holiday season, it has been claimed.

According to charity Debt Advisory Line, today (January 18th) is known as Blue Monday - or the most depressing day of the year - when poor weather, managing credit card debt, broken new year's resolutions and the return to work combine to put people in a bad mood.

Representative for the group Mike Ransom said that big spending in December generally lies behind Blue Monday and leads to a frugal January.

"This combined with the increase of home utility bills due to the extreme weather conditions equals bad news for people struggling to keep up with regular direct debits and overdue credit card or loan repayments," he added.

Last week, Homeowners Advice Centre co-owner Chris Jenkins stressed that financial planning is key for helping householders meet their mortgage payments.