The Shopping Crazed Nation? 35% of Brits find it hard to resist spending their whole wage each month

Waste not, Want not? The British consumer society waste an average of £180 a year on binned food, and that’s not all…

The data reveals:

• The average weekly shop is £66 with Brits wasting 5% of that
• The yearly cost of wasted food from a weekly shop is £180
• Are women’s wardrobes full of old clothes begging to be sold? The average brit has three dresses which they never use sat in their very own wardrobe
• 12% of Brits are paying for subscriptions monthly without even using or knowing about it!
• From those that have been paying a monthly subscription without knowing or using the product, it took an average of 4 ½ months for them to stop the direct debit
• 42% of Brits admit that they need to save more
• 18% of Brits are not sure about their monthly outgoings!
• 16% of Brits admit that money has left their accounts without them knowing about it
• 20% of Brits have purchased an item in the last month which they now regret
• The average Brit spends £20 a month on takeaways and £40 on going out!

As a consumer society, we spend more than we need but do you really know how much money you pour down the drain? Do you regularly use that gym pass? Do you watch these 54 extra TV channels? How long has it been since you’ve worn these shirts?

The nationwide research carried out by Provident on around 2000 UK adults reveals how much the average Brit spends on food, water, unused satellite TV, among others. It also raises the question about how much British could be saving by simply being more careful when grocery shopping or by checking their account for any unusual debits.

Tackling the food industry, it is worth noting Brits spend on average £66 on their weekly shop, of which 5% will go to the bin, mainly because products have expired before they could actually be used. What’s more, despite the younger generations not earning executive wages and not being able to save considerably, they are the most likely to throw away food – almost 10%! Whereas the older generations have an average of 3.8%.

Retail-therapy has been proven right but one can ask if this is the ultimate solution when the research shows that women have at least three dresses which they never use sat in their very own wardrobe, along with two trousers, three t-shirts, two jumpers and four pairs of shoes!

Monthly subscriptions are a hard blow on one’s account and it needs a bit of an assessment to determine how indispensable delivery services, group memberships, cable and music streaming direct debits are. For those that have been paying a monthly subscription without knowing or using the product, it took an average of 4 ½ months for them to stop the direct debit

It is not even the end of the month and it already feels like the money on your account has dried down? You might be among the 16% of Brits for whom money has legitimately left their account without them knowing about it. Again, this may be because almost one in five does not know or is not sure about their monthly outgoings.

As the saying goes “if you find the cause, you find the cure”, Provident has created the following tool to find out how much you waste per year: https://www.providentpersonalcredit.com/waste-not-want-not/

Put in the details of your weekly routine to find out how much money you throw away each year without knowing it, and learn how you can turn things around!