According to Australians polled recently by St.George Bank, the vast majority of us have made changes to our spending and saving habits for good in light of the financial crisis and our thrifty ways are here to stay.
The poll of over 1,000 Australians has revealed that 91 percent say it is important to save more now than before; 94 percent say it is important to pay off as much debt as possible; and almost eight in ten (78 percent) claim this shift in thinking is permanent – saying they’ll continue to save or pay down debt once the financial crisis is over. Only 13 percent say they’ll return to their old habits once the economy recovers.
According to Andrew Moore, St.George Bank general manager Retail Bank, people often spend less and save money in times of economic uncertainty.
“The bottom line is that people are overwhelmingly saying the GFC has shocked them into making a long-term change to their spending and saving habits.”
However it seems men are paying less attention to their finances compared with women. Of those polled, 78 percent of women said they are more likely to have an increased scrutiny on their finances, compared with 70 percent of men.
Moore said the global financial crisis has shocked some people into reassessing the way they spend, not just for now but for the future.
“It seems people genuinely feel that even when things go back to normal, they will keep these new good habits in place and won’t go back to their former ‘cash-splash’ ways.”
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