17 August 2006
Over a quarter of Brits raided their savings to fund a summer holiday in the last three months, according to research.
New figures from Birmingham Midshires have shown that 29 per cent of Brits opted to dip into their savings or current account to fund a holiday away, while there was an overall trend for 40 per cent of people to have used their savings in the first quarter of 2006.
This overall trend for 40 per cent of consumers to use their savings is up from 37 per cent in the same period last year.
It seems there is also an age divide when it comes to savings habits with the over fifties raiding their funds six times more than the under thirties in the last three months. Holidays and weekend breaks were also the number one reason why the over fifties decided to raid their savings accounts.
Jason Robinson, Birmingham Midshires director of savings, said: "We have been tracking savings habits for a number of years with our Saving Britain study and over time we've seen that the savings message is getting through.
"People are clearly making the effort to save; the hard part however is leaving the funds in savings and not spending them. This comes from planning and commitment and we always encourage savers to try and be realistic in what they put away."
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