Brits warned about overspending

Fri, 17 Aug 2007

Many UK residents are splashing out too much cash on unnecessary items just so they do not look poor in the eyes of their peers or neighbours, a new study has indicated.

The figures supplied by CreditExpert - affiliated with credit reference agency Experian - showed that it is often those who can ill-afford to splurge money on luxury items and non-essential purchases who do just that.

Indeed, 19 per cent of those surveyed admitted that peer pressure had led to them purchasing items, while 26 per cent spent cash so that others would not observe their real financial difficulties.

Jim Hodgkins, Managing Director of CreditExpert, described the desire to keep up with the Jones' as "staggering".

"While it's great to be generous at the bar or on a date, we should be spending because we want to and not because we feel pressured," he added.

He also warned that spending beyond ones' means could lead to bad debts . Lisa Taylor, an analyst at Moneyfacts, recently urged students to be careful when applying for financial services such as credit cards as they could lead to overspending.

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