IT’S advent – the chocolate calendars are out, the decorations are up and the hard-core Christmas shopping has begun in earnest.

But are you looking forward to a bumper Christmas akin to the heady hedonism of those days of pre-2007?

Or will job insecurity, rising bills and the climate of cuts mean a budget Christmas for you and yours this year?

According to two surveys that came out this week, there is some tightening of purse strings on the agenda for most of us.

Research by the Consumer Financial Education Body found some 37 per cent of people would be sticking to a budget this year, compared with 19 per cent in 2005, while 16 per cent – twice as many as previously – admitted they were planning to give second-hand gifts.

However, 15 per cent said they would borrow money for the annual splurge, and six per cent confessed to having no idea how they would pay for it.

The findings were reflected in the Children’s Society Christmas survey, which found almost two thirds of people asked said they were either “very” or “fairly” likely to make cutbacks this year.

But an extravagant 17 per cent of parents said they were prepared to go into debt so their family could “make the most of the festive season”.

Shoppers in Poole’s Dolphin Centre shared both views this week when we asked them: Will it be a blowout or a budget Yule for you?

Kevin Gillard, 40, a fishmonger from Weymouth, said it would be “proper Christmas” in his house.

“We’ve got four kids from 15 months to 17,” he said. “It’s for them really. Christmas only comes once a year and it’s for the little ones.”

Retired Eleanor Robbins, 62, from Sterte, Poole, said she wouldn’t be fretting about bills or the economy.

“You’ve got the rest of the year to worry – just enjoy it,” she added.

But Clare Davison, 43, a full-time mum from Lilliput, said: “Bills are more expensive and my husband’s salary hasn’t gone up for a couple of years.

“I’m trying to get good deals on presents and being sensible about things.”

And Claire Moses, 48, from Broadstone, who works for Borough of Poole, said: “It’s a budget Christmas because I'm not sure if I’ll have a job in the New Year. It won’t affect the joy we'll have at Christmas with friends and family – but I'm thinking about the money, instead of not thinking about it.”

Even if people aren’t splurging, they’re still spending – if visitor numbers to Bourenmouth’s Castlepoint shopping centre are anything to go by.

Manager Peter Matthews said they had been up every year since 2006 – and were two per cent up compared with this time last year.

“Maybe people are not buying as extravagant items as they bought a year ago – by they are still spending,” he added.

“Many retailers have increased their takings year on year in previous years and will continue to do that.”

For some, however, the pressure to spend at Christmas can become a real problem, according to Richard Bristow, manager of Poole Citizens Advice Bureau.

“This is my 24th Christmas with the CAB and we always see a huge increase in people coming to us with debt problems after Christmas when their credit card statements are being issued,” he added.

“A lot of people we deal with have either lost their jobs or had to change jobs to much lower paid employment. They ought to be tightening their belts and living within their means.

“But with pressure from children, Christmas is one of those times when people lose their rationality – but it all comes back with a big bang in January.”