A new study by EBS into Irish people’s plans for saving and household budgeting for the year ahead has shown that 18 per cent plan to do a very thorough review, 36 per cent will make a general savings plan while 45 per cent of Irish people have no plans to develop a household budget for the year ahead. The research of the 1,000 people surveyed, also found that of those planning to prepare a budget, more than 50 per cent revealed this was something that they have only started to do since the downturn.
Other findings included:
• Twenty nine per cent of those polled were saving for something specific in 2012, with women more likely to know what they are saving for (33 per cent ) than their male counterparts (only one in four men are saving for a specific item in 2012 ).
• Get-aways and ‘staycations’ topped the poll with almost one in four people saying that they were putting money aside for their holidays.
• Eleven per cent are saving for a car and 10 per cent are saving for education fees; eight per cent of those polled are saving for home improvements, with the same amount saving for either a wedding or engagement or a new house.
• Two per cent are saving for the European Championships.
When asked where people were hoping to make savings in 2012, clothing came top of the list with 63 per cent planning to reduce their outlay on clothing in the year ahead. This was followed by mobile phones, holidays, groceries and electricity.
The research is being published to coincide with the commencement of a new campaign entitled ‘What are you saving for in 2012?’ The campaign aims to encourage householders to take control of their finances by setting some time aside in January to plan their savings and spending for the year ahead.
Aidan Power, head of marketing, commented: “At EBS, we have found that the people that set themselves savings goals tend to have more success than those that save ‘for the sake of saving’. Irish people have developed a strong saving ethos over the past number of years and what this campaign hopes to achieve is to encourage people to plan what they are saving for at the start of the year, and then they can avail of the most suitable savings products and services to meet their needs.”
