Keep Calm And Carry On Saving
With inflation rates on the way up, the VAT rise now taking effect and experts saying mortgage rates are set to increase; belts will need to be tightened even more during 2011.
New research has shown millions of us are ready to wage personal battles against an unsteady economy with many believing Harold MacMillan hit the nail on the head in the post war 50s when he told people they’d 'never had it so good'.
And now it seems that the nation could be set to follow in the footsteps of their grandparents by adopting savvy money saving tips.
Freesat asked the nation’s pensioners how they managed to make ends meet and what advice they’d give today.
2,000 adults were then asked if they would consider applying these wartime ideas with the results showing a quarter of respondents would make a start by considering customising old clothes to give them a newer feeling, and more than a third plan to alter washing habits by reducing the amount of detergent they use.
Half of those polled in the survey also said they would switch from buying new books to raiding charity shops for their reading matter.
Family fun time at home may also change, although we’ll be gathering around the TV, rather than the wireless.
However there are definitely some limitations, with only 4% of women prepared to save money on stockings and revert to the WWII trick of using gravy powder to stain their legs.
The findings also show that we attribute the 'bulldog spirit' of the post-war generation at keeping the nation at its happiest, whilst the easy-credit mentality of the Noughties gave people the least amount of contentment.
And it seems a word from the wise will go a long way, with just under two thirds of people now valuing their parents and grandparents advice most, whilst fewer than one in ten value the advice from their bank manager.
Working with the queen of wartime, Marguerite Patten, the Women’s Institute’s home economist Diane Sanderson, and Age UK, Freesat is championing principles of the post-war era to compile the ultimate money saving tips that can be used today.
From food and clothing to entertainment and lifestyle they are showing how people can still enjoy themselves during times of austerity at little cost.
Psychologist Donna Dawson said the affection for post war values had been fuelled by the disillusion of the Noughties.
She said: "The survey shows that many of us were ‘burnt’ by the easy credit, consumer competitiveness and economic downturn of the ‘Noughties’: we no longer trust financial institutions, and we are being drawn back to the values of our parents and grandparents."
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