Britain’s “payday mayday” fast approaching

Millions of Brits will issue a “payday mayday” this week, as they run out of cash in their current accounts.

According to a new report from Abbey Banking, 64 per cent of Brits regularly have to make sacrifices in the days preceding their pay packet due to bad budgeting. On average, these poor planners run out of money five days before they receive their pay cheque - this month that will most likely happen on the 25th November, as most people get paid on the last day of the month.

With Christmas fast approaching, up to 29 million people will have to make sacrifices over the coming months in order to get through this expensive time of year. First to go is likely to be our social lives, as 43 per cent of us give up going out first when we’re running low on funds. 17 per cent of us are likely to stop buying new clothes, followed by cosmetics (six per cent) and three per cent of people are prepared to go hungry at the end of the month, rather than sacrifice anything else.

31 per cent of Brits rely on their overdraft when they run out of money in their current accounts, 25 per cent use their credit card to fund additional spending and 25 per cent dip into their savings. A further 11 per cent rely on friends and family to bail them out when they’re short of cash.

Regionally, those in the North of England are the worst at budgeting, with 67 per cent regularly running out of money in their current account before the end of the month. The Scots are the best budgeters, with just 48 per cent having to forgo purchases towards the end of the month.

Unsurprisingly, youngsters are the poorest planners, with 81 per cent of 18-24 year olds regularly running out of money in their current accounts before the end of the month, and 74 per cent of 25-34 year olds. 55-64 year olds are the better budgeters, with just over half (51 per cent) running out of money before the end of the month.

Steve Shore, Head of Banking at Abbey, comments: “A staggeringly high number of people regularly fail to budget effectively each month and end up running out of cash before their next pay cheque. With Christmas almost upon us, it’s especially important that people budget carefully during December’s party season to ensure they don’t run out of cash this party season.”