Impulse buying leaves Brits short of cash
Food, drink, clothes and takeaways are fuelling impulse buying, leaving Brits short on their rent and mortgage repayments.
Research from Santander shows despite economic woe, many of us are still buying on impulse and denting budgets. According to the research eight in ten of us have bought food or drink not on the shopping list, takeaways, clothes, nights out or books in the last year, leaving us short at the end of the month.
Unneeded food and drink are the biggest burdens, with 55 per cent of women and 42 per cent of men saying their budget had been ruined by supermarket temptations. With this, a third of women admitted to not considering their budget when buying toiletries and one in four men said they find it hard to resist gadgets.
The research suggests that this extra spending is impacting on the monthly budget. Around 16 per cent of impulse buyers have been left short of cash because of their spending, with this around one million people, or three per cent of the population, have been unable to pay monthly bills or buy household essentials because of their overspending; even more worryingly, the same number have been left in severe debt as a result of impulse buying.
Carlos Palacios, banking director at Santander said impulse buying could leave people in ‘financial difficulty’.
“It is important to ensure you prioritise the essentials like household bills and make sure you can afford to cover the cost of these necessities before spending money spontaneously”, he added.
According to the research two in five impulse buy because they can not resist a bargain, 15 per cent said it was because of feeling depressed or stressed and 13 per cent buy on impulse because ‘of a lack of self control’.
