A recent study carried out by the Abbey National has found that over 80 percent of people in the UK are changing their lifestyles to manage the effects of the credit crunch.
Looking at rising costs of living and less access to lending consumers in the UK are spending less, selling unwanted items to raise money and some are also taking on additional work to increase their income. With considered planning and the will to stick to it most people in the UK can feel a little better about how they will be able to manage in the future say the Abbey National.
Lifestyles do not have to change drastically in order to make a big change, rather it comes down to selecting the best options when spending money. It may be choosing an alternative provider to save money or perhaps cutting back a little on non-essential spending. As the Abbey National study also highlighted increasing income is another great way of balancing the personal balance sheet.
The recent decision by the Bank of England to keep the base rate at 5 percent was as per expectations according to the Abbey National.
A spokesman from the Abbey National explained that the need to manage an economy that is slowing down meant it was highly unlikely to see the interest rate increased, since that would slow it further. The rise in inflation, up to 3 percent in April also meant that a rate reduction was not going to happen since that would further fuel the inflation rate.
Looking forwards the Abbey National feel there may be a cut in the interest rate later in the year, though it needs the inflation rate to be kept under control for that to happen.
A new study carried out by Saga Insurance has found that those over 50 years of age do not like to discuss money unless they really have to, unlike younger people who are much more at ease with it.
However there are some things that no-one is particularly comfortable discussing, no matter what their age. The Saga Insurance study revealed that discussions regarding earnings and salary figures are disliked by all categories, with respondents saying they would try and get out of such a discussion if they could.
On the subject of discussing finances generally, around half of those involved in the study told Saga Insurance that it was not an appropriate subject to discuss, whilst almost ten percent of people said they would be embarrassed to discuss their personal finance situation with anyone.
