Around 100,000 of the UK's poorest families could be spending 2010 crippled with an estimated combined debt of around £82 million after borrowing money from loan sharks to pay for Christmas 2009, according to The Real Cost of Christmas , a report commissioned by housing provider, Circle Anglia. The report, authored by the Financial Inclusion Centre, estimated that a record £29 million in illegal doorstep loans were taken out over the holiday season.