With Christmas just around the corner, a new survey reveals the bad spending habits leaving Brits in the red.
10,000 people in the UK were asked by finance specialist Solution Loans which reckless spending behaviour they were guilty of – and between spontaneous shopping sprees, mounting monthly bills and living beyond our limits, it looks like many of us may struggle to save for the big Christmas shop.
With Brits set to spend a record £42 billion this Christmas, the results of this survey have revealed the key obstacles standing in the way of our seasonal savings – with men having more trouble with monthly bills, while money management issues are leaving women of the UK hard up.
43% of all Brits surveyed revealed they can’t help making unnecessary impulse purchases, making this the nation’s ultimate bad spending habit.
Purse strings aren’t quite so loose in London, though – with under a third of people in the capital admitting to making spontaneous shopping decisions, versus a whopping 55% of respondents in the East Midlands.
Bills, bills, bills When it comes to TV, phone and internet bills, it looks like some Brits are paying over the odds – with 24% of participants revealing they’ve failed to negotiate a better deal on their monthly payments.
37% of Scots and a substantial 45% of people in the North East of England admitted they’re paying more than they could be each month because they won’t haggle with their monthly providers – compared with only 11% of North West locals.
Monthly subscriptions like Netflix, Spotify and Amazon Prime are also leaving Brits strapped for cash – as a fifth of Brits confessed that they’re wasting money on subscriptions they don’t actually use.
A substantial 40% of North East locals said they pay for unused subscriptions, versus just 17% of people living in Yorkshire.
Living beyond limits
The results of the survey also show many Brits are breaking the bank when their basic income just won’t stretch far enough.
17% of people surveyed revealed they depend on their overdraft every month – with Brits going beyond their means to keep up with monthly expenses.
Surprisingly, almost a quarter of 45-54 year olds admitted to being constantly overdrawn – compared to just 16% of Brits aged 25-34.
13% of respondents said they rely on using credit cards to cover everyday purchases, with South East locals being more dependent on plastic than any other region of the UK.
With 18% of 18-24 year olds admitting to regularly exceeding the limits of their contract, phone bills are costing young people in Britain a bundle.
And it looks like age is more than just a number, as less than 10% of voters over the age of 45 said they rack up excess charges each month.
With the Christmas countdown now in full swing, some Brits will need to break the habit of a lifetime to avoid a frugal festival season in 2016.
But, on the other side of the coin, it looks like little lifestyle changes could mean big savings for the people of Britain this year.
Amanda Gillam of Solution Loans said: “It’s interesting to see that the survey respondents are aware of their spending habits, yet continue to make the same mistakes. Some sensible changes to the way Brits handle their finances would mean some big savings. And this is all the more pressing given rising inflation on the horizon.”
Topline results:
Respondents were able to select multiple answers to the following question:
Which of these bad spending habits do you have?
- Making unnecessary impulse purchases: 42.6%
- Failing to negotiate better deals on monthly bills: 23.7%
- Paying for subscriptions you don’t use: 20.2%
- Living in your overdraft: 17.0%
- Using credit cards for everyday essentials: 13.0%
- Exceeding your phone contract limits: 12.5%