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Most riding out the credit crunch

5 August, 2008

Many people have cut down on holidays, meals out and clothes shopping, but few have stopped enjoying life’s luxuries altogether.

Around 40% of those polled revealed they were considering taking fewer holidays in the wake of rising costs and 13% of people taking part in the survey would not be holidaying at all. However 44% said they were still planning to go on holiday just as much as they were a year ago.

When it comes to eating out, 14% of people had decided to stop spending in restaurants altogether, while 45% of people taking part in the survey said they had made the decision to afford fewer meals out. However, 36% of people in the poll said they were still eating out as much as they did 12 months ago.

The N&P survey revealed that families are feeling the effects of soaring food and fuel prices the most, as almost 75% of people with children said they were spending more on gas, electricity, petrol/diesel and supermarket shopping. This is compared with 59% of people without dependent children.

But it seems that spending more on necessities has so far not affected people’s ability to save money. While the survey revealed that only just over 8% of people polled were managing to save more this year than last year, it also found that nearly 40% were still able to put away as much money as they did 12 months ago and a further 30% were saving cash, although it was less than in previous years. 22% were not managing to save at all.

Some respondents had tried other methods to manage their money better. For example, 27% of those taking part in the survey said they had started a household budgeting plan and 16% had resorted to finding extra work to boost their income. Over 37% said they had not made any changes to the way they looked after their money at all.