The rising cost of living is the biggest financial worry for 2014
A new survey into the UK’s New Year money worries reveals that increases in the cost of living and rising bills are Nation’s main financial concerns for 2014. When asked where they could make savings on their essential outgoings and bills, almost half (47%) of respondents thought they could cut down on their grocery bills, but 28% of those surveyed said that they don’t think that they can make any savings in their essential living costs.
2014 Money Worries:
While the rising cost of living was the biggest concern across all age groups from 25 to 65 and over, for those surveyed in the 18 to 24 age group the main worry was not being able to find enough work (39%). This age group was also the most concerned about having insufficient savings with 29% of those surveyed saying that not saving enough was a big worry, compared with the overall figure of 13%.
The UK’s biggest financial worries for 2014 %
The rising cost of living/bills 36
Not saving enough 13
Not being able to find enough work 10
Credit card and other unsecured debts 6
Losing my job 5
Not saving enough for retirement 4
Mortgage interest rate rising 3
Maintaining mortgage/rent repayment 3
2014 savings on essential outgoings and bills:
The survey commissioned by comparison website Gocompare.com, asked people where they could make savings on their essential out goings in 2014. Food shopping headed the list (47%) followed by savings on gas and electricity costs (26%) and on TV, mobile, internet, home phone bills (25%).
Other key areas for savings include:
Petrol and other transport costs (21%)
Credit card and loan interest payments (17%)
Car insurance (12%)
Mortgage or rent costs (4%)
Claire Peate, Gocompare.com’s customer insight manager, commented: “While there are signs of a growing confidence in these figures in terms of relatively few worries about job security or rising interest rates, it is clear that the squeeze on budgets is still being felt. Food and energy price inflation combined with static wages for many people mean it is the basic cost of living which remains at the forefront of people’s concerns looking ahead.
“Using a comparison site, like Gocompare.com, can help stretch your household finances by making it easy to compare a wide range of products and services from car insurance, mortgages, utility bills to credit cards and mobile phone deals. Providers constantly review their pricing, so even if you think you’re getting a good deal on your financial products at the moment it’s worth shopping around on a regular basis.
“Ten minutes spent shopping around for the best deals on your outgoings could save you hundreds of pounds over the course of 2014 and give your finances a much needed boost. For example, Gocompare.com customers could save up to, £243 on their car insurance, £309.05 on their energy bills and £159.43 on their home insurance.”