Christmas is two weeks away, but for some people it represents financial anxiety more than festive joy. Almost 50% of people are looking to cut back on their spending on presents this year, with more than a third expecting to go into debt in the last weeks of the year.
If anywhere in Wales will feel the cost of living crisis sharply at Christmas, it'll be Ely in Cardiff. Families in traditional working class areas like this are not well equipped to absorb the huge increases in the cost of their heating, petrol, food and other costs. Research has found 67% of the youngest children in the core of Ely around Grand Avenue grow up in homes where incomes aren't high enough to cover essential living costs, that's the highest rate in Wales.
Many will be doing everything they can to give their families the best Christmas they can. But people told us about their plans to cut back - with some saying they wouldn't bother at all.
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Jackie Pearce, a mum and grandma working in the area, said: "It's affected my plans. You've got to pay your bills first, so I'm cutting back on presents. I've got three grown-up children and six grandkids. We've managed to get the grandkids presents, but only because we've put money away every week.
"It makes me rethink what's important. I just feel sorry for people who have got little ones and they've got to buy presents for them."
Jackie said the cost of living crisis was "hitting everybody," and that it felt like working people were being punished by not being given enough access to benefits. You can find out the latest about the payments you're eligible, as well as money-saving tips, with our money newsletter.
Paul Thomas is also struggling with the finances at this time of year. For him, Christmas doesn't even come into it - he won't be having a special dinner on the 25th and he's more preoccupied with the cost of staying healthy.
On a cold afternoon on Ely's Grand Avenue, he explained: "I'm a disabled person and I've got to travel from the Rhondda to the Heath to get my treatment, then keep thousands of pounds worth of it in the fridge at a time. To tell it bluntly, sex offenders have got more rights than us."
Paul has spent time in prison and said he knows people thinking about deliberately committing a crime or breaching their parole conditions just so they can go back in and have their gas and electric paid for.
He confirmed: "I know a lot of friends who have gone out and committed a crime to get back in jail. I don't want to go back in jail, but if it comes to a crunch..."
The Institute for Financial Studies said earlier this year that because less-well-off homes spent the highest proportion of their incomes on gas and electricity, they were the hardest hit by this year's price rises. The same part of Ely which had the most young children growing up in homes without enough income, known as Ely East to statisticians, was also shown to be hardest hit by deprivation of one form another or another in research this year by the Office for National Statistics - affecting 74% of households.
Ann, who didn't want to be pictured, said she was worried people would go into debt to make Christmas work. She said: "That’s my worry and concern, that people may be borrowing money from companies that charge a lot more to pay it back, and are going into a lot more debt.
"It’s interesting how they’re interviewing children on TV and they’re mindful of their parents’ heating bills. Children are very aware that their parents may be buying smaller gifts this year. I think people are cutting back. I don't think I'll be bothering this year.
"Normally I get people cards and money or vouchers in the envelope, but I don't really think people expect so much this year. People are saying: 'Don't bother.'"
Rueben, a barber in Avenue Male Grooming, said he'd heard customers talking about cutting back. He said: "It’s hard, isn’t it? Everything’s going up.
"I’d be buying for three people but I can only afford one this year. A lot of people tell me that they’re doing similar things and that they’re thinking about how many presents they’ll be getting for their children. Customers have been saying the same, everyone’s struggling this time of year."
And for some people, there are plans for a Christmas Day celebration - but with one ingredient missing. Kathy Chadwick, a mum of five and a grandmother, said: "I know some people who are just going to have chicken for dinner.
"Pork is cheaper than turkey. We’re having pork and maybe chicken instead of turkey because turkey is so expensive."
She added: "I struggle anyway because I’m on Employment Support Allowance and I suffer from Raynaud’s so I need the heating on more than I have it on. But it’s one of the things I’ve to to put up with."
She said that, even if many families would be looking to save money on the presents, the dinner and the decorations, "people will make the most of Christmas" if they were able to.
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