Three quarters or 77% of adults have concerns over how much money they are able to save each month. That said, they also admit to wasting large sums of money each month, which is affecting their ability to squirrel way any savings according to Standard Life.
Are you skint at the end of the month?
The average adult wastes £52 per week, which could be put into a savings account- this totals at a staggering £2,704 every year. Realistically, they could spend £92 less, without affecting their lifestyle.
The findings show that people enjoy short term perks as opposed to long terms gains. Although it would be nice to see your savings mount up over the course of a year- people favour little treats along the way instead.
36% said that they would rather have £100 now than wait five years to have £1,000. Both men and women admitted that the main reason for this was impatience, saying that 5 years is just far too long of a wait for financial gratification.
Over half said that it's hard to resist spending all of their hard earned cash every month and are suckers for impulse buys. 14% make an impulse buy of £50 each month which they later regret, which takes affect the same day they buy it.
Again, over half of adults believe that they don't have enough money left at the end of the month to warrant saving it. This amount however is quite high, with a £145 minimum deemed as worth saving- anything less is seen as negligible.
Due to this mentality, only half of Brits save each month while one in five never put anything aside at all. Those who do put money away tend to put it in a separate bank account to keep their money segregated as this makes it easier to difference between spending and saving money.
When Brits do manage to put some money by they do feel better. If something unexpected comes along they have the money to pay for it and they feel more secure about not having to dip into overdrafts and credit cards.
Standard Life's Consumer Finance Expert Julie Hutchison said: "It is clear from the research that a large proportion of adults don't have enough savings to give them peace of mind. But due to a culture of instant gratification, many are wasting money now which could instead be put aside for a brighter financial future. Our research shows the average UK adult could save £92 a month without impacting their lifestyle - regular savings of that level could potentially give your savings a boost"
"An ISA is a fantastic way to start saving regular small amounts of money - you could start by putting aside just £50 per month. Saving through an ISA offers fantastic benefits; unlike other accounts, any interest on your cash balance or gains from investments are tax free, which can help savings grow faster over time. But there's only a few weeks left until the deadline to save your allowance for this year, so use it or lose it."
Tagged in Money