The Welsh to make deep cuts to household spending
With just one day to go before new Chancellor George Osborne delivers his long-awaited Emergency Budget in which he will seek to make £6 billion of savings, the people of Wales have signalled they are ready and willing to make their own cuts in personal and household spending.
Half of the people of Wales are already preparing for a Scrooge of a Budget next week - looking at ways of reducing personal and household spending by almost £100 per month.
While the majority of people (44 per cent) plan to achieve these savings by switching utility providers, 40 per cent said they would spend less on the weekly food bills and eating and drinking out, and 32 per cent said they would cut back on their high street shopping spree for clothes.
The results from the latest Principality Building Society Saving & Spending Quarterly Survey are a clear indication that the public is expecting the new Coalition Government's Emergency Budget on Tuesday will force a tightening of the belts for all.
The Principality survey, carried out by Cardiff-based Research & Marketing and conducted among 600 people living in Cardiff, Swansea, Newport and Wrexham, shows that almost 86 per cent of the population are either slightly concerned, concerned or very worried about the current state of the UK economy.
In fact, the vast majority of those questioned (85 per cent) believe we are still in the grip of recession - an increase from the 80 per cent who felt the same last quarter.
Despite those concerns, however, confidence in the future is relatively high, with 69 per cent of those surveyed saying they either feel more financially secure, or as secure, as they did before the new government came to power.
And saving is still proving to be popular with the people of Wales with more than 71 per cent of people admitting that they intend to save more or the same amount of money this year as they did last year.
However, the majority of people in Wales (59 per cent) admit that they think now is a bad time to save, particularly because of the low interest rate environment.
In addition, the average three months' saving is expected to be more than halved during the next quarter, from £1,331 to £626 per person, and a fifth of those surveyed (20.2 per cent) said they could not afford to save.
Commenting on the results, Graeme Yorston, Chief Operating Officer at Principality Building Society which is celebrating its 150th anniversary this year, said: "The overarching aim of the Emergency Budget is to shift the focus of the country from debt to saving and it's encouraging to see that the Welsh public have already adopted this mindset and are looking to make their own preparations for the future.
"Despite the low base rate environment, fierce competition in the market has actually driven interest rates up, allowing savers to get a competitive return on their investments - good news as the unstable environment actually points to the importance of having a savings safety net now more than ever before.
"We recognise that the upcoming Emergency Budget is presented against a backdrop of challenging economic conditions, but we echo the Building Societies Association when we urge the government to ensure that savers are not unduly penalised and that borrowers continue to be protected should they get into difficulty.
"The public are prepared for tough times ahead and any incentive that the government can offer to encourage long term saving and deter people from debt is welcomed in order to ensure that a healthy economy is sustained in the future.
"We would in particular, offer our support to the introduction of a children's ISA to replace the Child Trust Fund and its original aims of encouraging thrift and financial responsibility among future generations, something that we remain committed to. We also hope that the coalition Government remains committed to keeping ISAs and making appropriate adjustments to ISA limits to ensure that they remain an attractive proposition for all."
The third Principality Saving and Spending Survey, which provides a regular snapshot of the spending and savings habits of the people of Wales, revealed that with all the talk of Government cuts a total of 49.7 per cent of people in Wales are looking at ways to reduce spending, with £99 a month being the average amount people are hoping to cut back on each month.
The most popular means of cutting back on reducing outgoings include spending less on household bills like electricity and gas by switching providers (44 per cent), spending less on food, eating and drinking out (40 per cent), buying fewer clothes (31.7 per cent) and spending less on entertaining (24 per cent).
There are differences across the country, too, with people living in the Newport area (56 per cent) more likely to look at ways of cutting personal spending than their counterparts in Wrexham (51.5 per cent), Swansea (47.6 per cent) and Cardiff (47.3 per cent).
And while almost half of those questioned in the Swansea area (49.4 per cent) plan to make their savings by reducing their household bills, more people in Cardiff (40.6 per cent) than anywhere else in Wales aim to rein in their clothes shopping.
More people in Wrexham (23.1 per cent) than anywhere else in Wales will be saving money this year by spending less on holidays, while more people in Newport (18 per cent) will cut back on days out with the family.