Mad Friday: Don't pay the price of festive partying

Today is officially Mad Friday, where ambulance services across the country gear up for one of the busiest nights of the year. The day - also known as Black Friday - will see millions of people finish work ready for the Christmas break, and celebrate by hitting pubs and clubs with wild abandon. It's not just your health that could suffer on Mad Friday, if you're not careful it could be a financial disaster too.

At it's simplest, this could be a very expensive night indeed. If you overdo the booze, there's every chance the purse strings will be loosened, and expensive cocktails, pricey clubs and late night meals will start to seem like perfectly sensible spending plans. A study by the Money Advice Service found that men in particular were more likely to make extravagant spending decisions after drinking alcohol.

Valuables

There's also a real risk you could lose track of valuables. A study by Sainsbury's found that the Friday before Christmas is the typical peak day for pre-Christmas cash withdrawals; Friday 19th December was the busiest day in 2014 and Friday 20th December was the busiest day in 2013 for cash withdrawals.
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You will therefore be walking around with cash, and potentially hundreds of pounds of valuables including phones and laptops, and if you have consumed alcohol there's always the risk they will get left on the bus, or dropped on the way home. As the Northern Irish police put it in a recent leaflet: "Too much alcohol makes you more prone to accidents."

Crime risk

Then, of course, there's the danger that you become a victim of crime. There's a reason why pubs and bars are the most common places to have your phone stolen. You may have put down your bag or your coat, and alcohol may have dulled your senses. While you're distracted by the revelries, you are a prime target for thieves.

You also become a target on the street, particularly if you stop off at an ATM. Thieves don't have to work terribly hard to distract you and take your cash, card, or both. Drunks also find themselves easy prey for pickpockets. And on public transport, if you fall asleep, there's a real risk you'll wake up without your phone or wallet.

Take care

If you're out and about this evening, therefore, the emergency services are asking everyone to take extra care, show a bit of restraint, and keep themselves and their belongings safe. If possible, at least one person in the group should remain sober in order to prevent the others from making poor decisions or becoming vulnerable. You should also take enough cash for the evening - including the journey home, charge up your mobile and keep the number of a licenced taxi firm in your phone.

After an evening on the tiles, there will be plenty of people waking up with a sore head and regrets. These steps should help protect them from waking up with a financial hangover too.