The Irish League of Credit Unions (ILCU) has urged people not to get into "unmanageable debt" this Christmas and to avoid starting the New Year with "crippling" repayments.
ILCU President Mr John O'Regan said parents going way beyond their means to ensure their children had the best of everything at Christmas remained common.
"It's the most natural thing in the world for mothers and fathers to want their children not to be without, and, of course, there is the additional factor of peer pressure for their sons and daughters and the scourge of over-the-top television and door-to-door advertising," he said.
"Spending large sums of money on gifts, and other Christmas celebrations, may bring some temporary cheer, but it is also storing up problems for the future for people who can't afford it," he added.
Mr O'Regan noted that despite a range of initiatives in the past decade to counteract money-lending, there were still many "sharks" willing to prey on the vulnerable.
Mr O'Regan said those in financial difficulty should call into their local credit unions for help or use the Money Advice and Budgeting Service run by the Department of Community and Family Affairs in conjunction with credit unions around the country.
"And the Society of the St Vincent de Paul is always there for people who can't make ends meet," he added.